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CONVERSATION. 



\ 



CONVERSATION 

ITS FAULTS AND ITS GRACES 

COMPILED BY 



ANDREW P. PEABODY, D.D.,LL.D. 

LATE PLU1DIER "PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN MORALS IN, AND PREACHER 
TO, HARVARD UNIVERSITY 



COMPRISING 

DR. PEABODY'S ADDRESS TO YOUNG LADIES 

FRANCIS TRENCH OX CONVERSATION 

A WORD TO THE WISE 

Or Hints on the Current Improprieties of Expression 
in Heading and Writing By Parry Gwynne 

MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES OF SPEAKING 
AND WRITING CORRECTED 



NEW EDITION 



BOSTON 
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS 

NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM 

1882 






Entered, according to au 01 congress, in the year 1867, by 

William IT. Deknet, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Co^rt of the District of Massachusetts 



Trantfe* 
engineers School Uk* 

June 23, 1931 



DEDICATED 

TO 

AMERICAN TEACHERS 



m 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The Compiler has attempted to bring together in 
this little volume the principles which should govern 
Conversation among persons of true refinement of mind 
and character, and to point out some of the most com- 
mon and easily besetting vulgarisms occurring in the 
colloquial English of our country and day. Part I. is 
an Address delivered before a Young Ladies' School, 
in Newburyport. Part II. is a Lecture addressed to 
the Literary, Scientific, and Mechanics' Institution at 
Reading, England. Part III. is a reprint from the 
fourth English edition of " A Word to the Wise, or 
Hints on the Current Improprieties of Expression in 
Writing and Speaking," by Pakrt Gwynne, a few 

passages not applicable to the habits of Americarj 

(7) 



8 ADYEKTISEilE^'T. 

society being omitted. Part IV. is composed of se- 
lections from two little English books, entitled u Never 
too late to Learn : Mistakes of daily occurrence in 
Speaking, Writing, and Pronunciation, corrected ;" 
and " Common Blunders in Speaking and Writing." 



The several portions of this little volume have, since 
its first appearance, been thoroughly revised, with the 
endeavor to render it at once more entirely accurate, 
and more extensively useful. Parts III. and IV. espe- 
cially have been subjected to a careful revision, and 
many alterations and additions have been made with 
the design of embracing in the criticisms the more 
common and more objectionable enois of speech and 
pronunciation heard in American society. A table of 
contents has been added, which it is believed will very 
considerably enhance the value of the work. 



PART L 



BR, PEABODY'S ADDBESS, 



Young Ladies : 

You have made me happy by your kind invitation to 
meet you, and to address you on this anniversary. A 
day spent in this room at your annual examination, 
nearly two years ago, was a season of privilege and 
enjoyment not readily to be forgotten. I had previously 
entertained a high regard for your instructor. I then 
learned to know him by his work ; and were he not 
here, I should be glad to extend beyond a single sentence 
my congratulations with you that you are his pupils. 

I have said that I accepted your invitation with glad- 
ness. Yet, in preparing myself to meet yon, I find a 
degree of embarrassment. This is for you a season of 
recreation, — a high festival ; and I am accustomed to 
use my pen and voice only on grave occasions, and foi 

(0) 



10 peabody's address. 

solemn services. I know not how to add to your amuse- 
ment. Should I undertake to make sport for you, my 
awkwardness would give you more mirth than my wit. 
The best that I can do is to select some subject that is 
or ought to be interesting to you, and to endeavor to 
blend a little instruction with the gayer and more lively 
notes of the occasion. The lesson shall be neither 
tediously long nor needlessly grave. 

I propose to offer you a few hints on conversation. 
How large a portion of life does it fill up ! How innu- 
merable are its ministries and its uses ! It is the most 
refined species of recreation, — the most sparkling source 
of merriment. It interweaves with a never-resting 
shuttle the bonds of domestic sympathy. It fastens the 
ties of friendship, and runs along the golden links of the 
chain of love. It enriches charity, and makes the gift 
twice blessed. There is, perhaps, a peculiar appropri- 
ateness in the selection of this topic for an address to 
young ladies ; for they do more than any other class in 
the community towards establishing the general tone and 
standard of social intercourse. The voices of many of 
you already, I doubt not, strike the key-note of home 
conversation ; and you are fast approaching an age when 
you will take prominent places in general society ; will 
be the objects of peculiar regard ; and will, in a great 
measure, determine whether the social converse in your 



peabodt's addhess. 11 

respective circles shall be vulgar or refined, censorious 
or kindly, frivolous or dignified. It was said by a wise 
man of antiquity, — " Only give me the making of songs 
for the people, and I care not who makes the laws." 
In our unmusical age and land, talking occupies the 
place which songs did among the melody-loving Greeks ; 
and he who could tune the many-voiced harp of the 
social party need crave no higher office or more potent 
sway. 

Permit me now to enumerate some of the character- 
istics of graceful, elegant, and profitable conversation, 
commencing with the lower graces, and passing on to 
the higher. 

Let me first beg you, if you would be good talkers, to 
form and fix now (for you can do this only now) habits 
of correct and easy pronunciation. The words which 
you now miscall it will cost you great pains in after life 
to pronounce aright, and you will always be in danger 
of returning inadvertently to your old pronunciation. 
There are two extremes which you ought equally to 
shun. One is that of carelessness; the other, that of 
extreme precision, as if the sound of the words uttered 
were constantly uppermost in the mind. This last fault 
always suggests the idea of vanity and pedantry, and is 
of itself enough to add a deep indigo hue to a young 
lady's reputation. 



12 peaeody's address. 

One great fault of New England pronunciation is, that 
the work is performed too much by the outer organs of 
speech. The tones of the voice have but little depth. 
Instead of a generous play of the throat and lungs, the 
throat almost closes, and the voice seems to be formed 
in the mouth. It is this that gives what is called a nasal 
tone to the voice, which, when denied free range through 
its lawful avenues, rushes in part through the nose. "We 
notice the nasal pronunciation in excess here and thero 
in an individual, while Englishmen and Southerners 
observe it as a prevailing characteristic of all classes of 
people in the Northern States. Southerners in general 
are much less careful and accurate in pronunciation than 
we are ; but they more than compensate for this defi- 
ciency by the full, round tones in which they utter them- 
selves. In our superficial use of the organs of speech, 
there are some consonants which we are prone to omit 
altogether. This is especially the case with g in words 
that end with ing. Nine persons out of ten say singin 
instead of singing, I know some public speakers, and 
many private ones, who never pronounce the t in such 
words as object and prospect, Tory few persons give 
the right sound to r final. Far is generally pronounced 
as if it were written fall. Now, I would not have the 
full Hibernian roll of the r ; but I would have the pres- 
ence of the letter more distinctly recognized than it 
often is. even by persons of refined and fastidious taste. 



peabody's address. 13 

Let me next beg you to shun all the ungrammaticai 
vulgarisms which are often heard, but which never fail 
to grate harshly on a well-timed ear. If you permit 
yourselves to use them now, you will never get rid of 
them. I know a venerable and accomplished lawyer, 
who has stood at the head of his profession in this state, 
and has moved in the most refined society for half a 
century, who to this day says hain't for has not, having 
acquired the habit when a schoolboy. I have known 
persons who have for years tried unsuccessfully to break 
themselves of saying done for did, and you and 1 for 
you and me. Many well-educated persons, through the 
power of long habit, persist in saying shciv for showed, 
while they know perfectly well that they might, with 
equal propriety, substitute snew for snowed ; and there 
is not far hence a clergyman, marvellously precise and 
fastidious in his choice of words, who is very apt to com- 
mence his sermon by saying, " I shew you in a recent 
discourse." A false delicacy has very generally intro- 
duced drank as the perfect participle of drink, instead 
of drunk, which alone has any respectable authority in 
its favor; and the imperfect tense and perfect participle 
have been similarly confounded in many other cases. 
I know not what grammar you use in this school. I 
trust that it is an old one ; for some of the new grammars 
sanction these vulgarisms, and in looking over their 



14 peabody's address. 

tables of irregular verbs, I have sometimes half expected 
to have the book dashed from my hand by the indignant 
ghost of Lindley Murray. Great care and discretion 
should be employed in the use of the common abbrevi- 
ations of the negative forms of the substantive and 
auxiliary verbs. Can't, don't, and haven't are admissible 
iu rapid conversation on trivial subjects. Isn't and hasn't 
are more harsh, yet tolerated by respectable usage. 
Didn't, couldn't, wouldn't, and shouldn't make as un- 
pleasant combinations of consonants as can well be 
uttered, and fall short but by one remove of those 
unutterable names of Polish gentlemen which sometimes 
excite our wonder in the columns of a newspaper. Won't 
for ivill not, and ain't for is not, or are not, are absolutely 
vulgar ; and hain't for has not, or have not, is utterly 
intolerable. 

Nearly akin to these offences against good grammar 
is another untasteful practice, into which you are prob- 
ably more in danger of falling, and which is a crying 
sin among young ladies, — I mean the use of exaggerated, 
extravagant forms of speech, — saying splendid for 
pretty, magnificent for handsome, horrid for very, horrible 
for unpleasant, immense for large, thousands or myriads 
for any number greater than two. Were I to write 
down, for one day, the conversation of some young ladies 
of my acquaintance, and then to interpret it literally, it 



peabody's address. 1£ 

would imply that, within the compass of twelve or four- 
teen hours, they had met with more marvellous adven- 
tures and hair-breadth escapes, had passed through more 
distressing experiences, had seen more imposing spec- 
tacles, had endured more fright, and enjoyed more 
rapture, than would suffice for half a dozen common 
lives. This habit is attended with many inconveniences. 
It deprives you of the intelligible use of strong expres- 
sions when you need them. If you use them all the 
time, nobody understands or believes you when you use 
them in earnest. You are in the same predicament with 
the boy wdio cried wolf so often, when there was no 
wolf, that nobody would go to his relief when the wolf 
came. This habit has also a very bad moral bearing. 
Our words have a reflex influence upon our characters. 
Exaggerated speech makes one careless of the truth. 
The habit of using words without regard to their rightful 
meaning often leads one to distort facts, to misreport 
conversations, and to magnify statements, in matters in 
which the literal truth is important to be told. You can 
never trust the testimony of one who in common con- 
versation is indifferent to the import, and regardless of 
the power, of words. I am acquainted with persons 
whose representations of facts always need translation 
and correction, and who have utterly lost their reputation 
for veracity solely through this habit of overstrained and 



16 peabody's address. 

extravagant speech. They do not mean to lie ; but they 
have a dialect of then' own, in which words bear an 
entirely different sense from that given to them in the 
daily intercourse of discreet and sober people. 

In this connection, it may not be amiss to notice a 
certain class of phrases, often employed to fill out an(? 
dilute sentences, such as, Pm sure, — I declare, — That's 
a fact, — You hiow, — i~ want to know, — Did you 
ever ? — Well ! I never, — and the like. All these forms 
of speech disfigure conversation, weaken the force of the 
assertions or statements with which they are connected, 
and give unfavorable impressions as to the good breeding 
of the person that uses them. 

You will be surprised, young ladies, to hear me add 
to these counsels, — " Above- all things, swear not at all." 
Yet there is a great deal of swearing among those who 
would shudder at the very thought of being profane. 
The Jews, who were afraid to use the most sacred names 
in common speech, were accustomed to swear by the 
temple, by the altar, and by their own heads ; and these 
oaths were rebuked and forbidden by divine authority, 
I know not why the rebuke and prohibition apply not 
with full force to the numerous oaths by goodness, faith, 
patience, and mercy, which we hear from lips that mean 
to be neither coarse nor irreverent, in the school room* 
street, and parlor; and a moment's reflection will con- 



peabody's address. 17 

vince any well-disposed person, that, in the exclama f ion 
Lor, the cutting off of a single letter from a consecrated 
word can hardly save one from the censure and the 
penalty written in the third commandment I do not 
regard these expressions as harmless. I believe them 
inconsistent with Christian laws of speech. Nor do they 
accord with the simple, quiet habit of mind and tone of 
feeling which are the most favorable to happiness and 
usefulness, and which sit as gracefully on gay and buoy- 
ant youth as on the sedatene&s of maturer years. The 
frame of mind in which a young lady says, in reply to a 
question, Mercy! no, is very different from that which 
prompts the simple, modest no. Were there any room 
for doubt, I should have some doubt of the truth of the 
former answer ; for the unnatural, excited, fluttered state 
of mind implied in the use of the oath, might indicato 
either an unfitness to weiovh the truth, or an unwilling- 
ness to acknowledge it. 

In fine, transparency is an essential attribute of all 
graceful and becoming speech. Language ought to rep- 
resent the speaker's ideas, and neither more nor less. 
Exclamations, needless expletives, unmeaning extrav« 
agances, are as untasteful as the streamers of tattered 
finery which you sometimes see fluttering about the 
person of a dilapidated belle. Let your thoughts be as 
strong, as witty, as brilliant, as you car make them ; 



18 peabody's address. 

but never seek to atone for feeble thought by large 
words, or to rig out foolish conceits in the spangled robe 
of genuine wit. Speak as you think and feel ; and let 
the tongue always be an honest interpreter to the heart. 

But it is time that we passed to higher considerations. 
There are great laws of duty and religion which should 
govern our conversation ; and the divine Teacher assures 
us that even for our idle words we are accountable to 
Hirn who has given us the power of speech. Now, I 
by no means believe that there is any principle of our 
religion which frowns upon wit or merriment, or forbids 
playful speech at fit seasons and within due limits. The 
very fact that the Almighty has created the muscles 
which produce the smile and the laugh, is a perpetual 
rebuke to those who would call all laughter madness, 
and all mirth folly. Amusement, in its time and place, 
is a great good ; and I know of no amusement so refined, 
so worthy an intellectual being, as that conversation 
which is witty and still kind, playful, yet always rev- 
erent, which recreates from toil and care, but leaves no 
sting, and violates no principle of brotherly love 01 
relignus duty. 

Evil speaking, slander, detraction, gossip, scandal, are 
different names for one of the chief dangers to be guarded 
against in conversation ; and you are doing much towards 
defending yourselves against it bv the generous mental 



PEABODY'S ADDRESS. 19 

culture which you enjoy in this seminary. The demon 
of slander loves an empty house. A taste for scandal 
betrays a vacant mind. Furnish your minds, then, by 
useful reading and study, and by habits of reflection and 
mental industry, that you may be able to talk about 
subjects as well as about people, — about events too loin; 
past or too remote to be interwoven with slander. But, 
if ycu must talk about people, why not about their good 
traits and deeds ? The truest ingenuity is that which 
brings hidden excellences to light ; for Virtue is in her 
very nature modest and retiring, while faults lie on the 
surface and are detected at a glance. 

You will undoubtedly be careful to have your words 
always just and kind, if you will only take a sufficiently 
thorough view of the influence of your habits of conver- 
sation, both in the formation of your own characters and 
in determining the happiness of others. But how low 
an estimate do many of us make of the power of the 
tongue ! How little account we are apt to take of our 
words! Have we not all at times said to ourselves. 
" ! it is only a word! " when it may have been sharp 
as a drawn sword, have given more pain than a score 
of blows, and done more harm than our hands could have 
wrought in a month ? Why is it that the slanderer and 
the talebearer regard themselves as honest and worthy 
people, instead of feeling that they are accursed of God 



20 peabody's address. 

and man ? It is because they deal in evil words only, 
and they consider words as mere nought. Why is it 
tiiat the carping tongue, which filches a little from eve ry 
body's good name, can hardly utter itself without a sneer, 
and makes every fair character its prey, thinks better 
of itself than a petty pilferer would ? It is because by 
long, though baseless prescription, the tongue has claimed 
for itself a license denied to every other member and 
faculty. 

But, in point of fact, your words not only express, but 
help create, your characters. Speech gives definiteness 
and permanence to your thoughts and feelings. The 
unuttered thought may fade from the memory, — may 
be chased away by better thoughts, — may, indeed, 
hardly be a part of your own mind ; for, if suggested 
from without, and met without a welcome, and with dis- 
approval and resistance, it is not yours. But by speech 
you adopt thoughts, and the voice that utters them is as 
a pen that engraves them indelibly on the soul. If you 
can suppress unkind thoughts, so that, when they rise in 
youi breast, and mount to your very lips, you leave 
them unuttered, you are not on the whole unkind, — 
your better nature has the supremacy. But if these 
wrong feelings often find utterance, though you call it 
hasty utterance, there is reason to fear that they flow 
from a bitter fountain within. 



21 



Consider, also, how large a portion speech makes up 
of the lives of all. It occupies the greater part of the 
waking hours of many of us ; while express acts of a 
moral bearing, compared with our words, are rare and 
few. Indeed, in many departments of duty, words are 
oir only possible deeds, — it is by words alone that we 
can perform or violate our duty. Many of the most im- 
portant forms of charity are those of speech. Alms- 
giving is almost the only expression of charity of which 
the voice is not the chief minister ; and alms, conferred 
in silent coldness, or with chiding or disdainful speech, 
freeze the spirit, though they may warm the body. 
Speech, too, is the sole medium of a countless host of 
domestic duties and observances. There are, indeed, in 
every community many whose only activity seems to be 
in words. There are many young ladies, released from 
the restraints of school, and many older ladies, with few 
or no domestic burdens, with no worldly avocation and 
no taste for reading, whose whole waking life, either at 
their own homes or from house to house, is given to the 
exercise, for good or evil, of the tongue, — that unruly 
member. And how blessed might they make that exer- 
cise, — for how many holy ministries of love, sympathy, 
and charity might it suffice, — how many wounds might 
it prevent or heal, — did they only believe and feel that 
they were writing out their own characters in their daily 



22 peabody's address. 

speech ! But too many of them forget this. So lon^ as 
they do not knowingly and absolutely lie, they feel no 
responsibility for their words. They deem themselves 
virtuous, because they refrain from vices to which they 
have not the shadow of a temptation ; but carp, backbite, 
and carry ill reports from house to house, with an apos • 
tie's zeal and a martyr's devotedness. To say nothing 
of the social effect of such a life, is not the tongue thus 
employed working out spiritual death for the soul in 
whose service it is busy ? I know of no images too vile 
to portray such a character. The dissection of a slan- 
derer's or talebearer's heart would present the most 
loathsome specimen of morbid anate>my conceivable. It 
is full of the most malignant poison. Its life is all mean, 
low, serpent-like, — a life that cannot bear the light, but 
finds all its nourishment and growth in darkness. Were 
these foul and odious forms of speech incapable of harm- 
ing others, — did human reptiles of this class creep about 
in some outward guise, in which they could be recog- 
nized by all, and their words be taken for what they are 
worth, and no more, — still I would beg them, for their 
own sakes, not to degrade God's image, in which they 
were created, into the likeness of a creeping thing ; I 
would entreat them not to be guilty of the meanest and 
most miserable of all forms of spiritual suicide ; I would 
beseech them, if they are determined to sell their souls, 



peabody's address. 23 

to get some better price for them than the scorn and 
dread of all whose esteem is worth having. 

In tliis connection, we ought to take into account the 
very large class of literally idle words. How many talk 
on unthinkingly and heedlessly, as if the swift exercise 
i f the organs of speech were the great end of life ! The 
most trivial news of the day, the concerns of the neigh- 
borhood, the floating gossip, whether good-natured or 
malignant, dress, food, frivolous surmises, paltry plans, 
vanities too light to remain an hour upon the memory, — 
these are the sole staple of what too many call conver- 
sation ; and many are the young people who are training 
themselves in the use of speech for no higher or better 
purpose. But such persons have the threatened judg- 
ment visibly following their idle speech. Their minds 
grow superficial and shallow. They constantly lose 
ground, if they ever had any, as intellectual and moral 
beings. Such speech makes a person, of however gen- 
teel training, coarse and vulgar, and that not only in 
character, but even in voice and manners, and with sad 
frequency it obliterates traits of rich loveliness and 
promise. The merely idle tongue is also very readily 
betrayed into overt guilt. One cannot indulge in idle, 
reckless talk, without being implicated in all the current 
slander and calumny, and acquiring gradually the en- 
vious and malignant traits of a hackneyed talebearer. 



24 peabody's address. 

And i he person who, in youth, can attract the attention 
and win the favor of those of little reflection by flippant 
and voluble discourse, will encounter in the very sarce 
circles neglect, disesteeru, and dislike, before the meridian 
of life is passed ; for it takes all the charms that youth, 
sprightliness, and high animal spirits can furnish, to 
make an idle tongue fascinating or even endurable. 

Let me ask you now to consider for a moment the 
influence which we exert in conversation upon the hap- 
piness or misery of others. It is not too much to say, 
that most of us do more good or harm in this way than 
in all other forms beside. Look around you, — take a 
survey of whatever there is of social or domestic un hap- 
piness in the families to which you belong, or among 
your kindred and acquaintance. Nine tenths of it can 
be traced to no other cause than untrue, unkind, or un- 
governed speech. A mere harsh word, repented of the 
next moment, — how great afire can it kindle! The 
carrying back and forth of an idle tale, not worth an 
hour's thought, will often break up the closest intimacies. 
Fiom every slanderous tongue you may trace numerous 
rills of bitterness, winding round from house to house, 
and separating those who ought to be united in the 
closest friendship. Could persons, who, with kind hearts, 
are yet hasty in speech, number up, at the close of a 
day, the feelings that they had wounded, and the un- 



peabody's address. 25 

comfortable sensations that they had caused, they would 
need no other motive to study suavity of manner, and to 
seek for their words the rich unction of a truly charitable 
spirit. Then, too, how many are the traits of suspicion, 
jealousy, and heart-burning, which go forth from every 
clay's merely idle words, vain and vague surmises, un- 
charitable inferences and conjectures ! 

These thoughts point to the necessity of religion as 
the guiding, controlling element in conversation. All 
conversation ought to be religious. Not that I would 
have persons always talking on what are commonly called 
religious subjects. Let these be talked of at fitting times 
and places, but never obtrusively brought forward or 
thrust in. But cannot common subjects be talked of 
religiously ? Cannot we converse about our plans, our 
amusements, our reading, nay, and our neighbors too, 
and no sacred name be introduced, and yet the conver- 
sation be strictly religious? Yes, — if throughout the 
conversation we own the laws of honesty, frankness, 
kind construction, and sincere benevolence, — if our 
speech be pure, true, gentle, dignified, — if it seek or 
impart information that either party needs, — if it cher- 
ish friendly feeling, — if it give us kinder affections 
towards others. — if it bring our minds into vigorous 
exercise, — nay, if it barely amuse us, but not too long, 
and if the wit be free from coarseness and at no one's 



26 peabody's address. 

expense. But we should ever bear it in mind, that our 
words are all uttered in the hearing of an unseen Lis- 
tener and Judge. Could we keep this in remembrance, 
mere would be little in oar speech that need give us 
shame or pain. But that half hour spent in holding up 
to ridicule one who has done you no harm, — that 
breathless haste to tell the last piece of slander, — you 
would not want to remember in your evening piayer 
From the .flippant, irresponsible, wasteful gossip, in 
which so much time is daily lost, you could not with a 
safe conscience look up and own an Almighty presence. 
Young ladies, my subject is a large one, and branches 
out into so many heads, that, were I to say all that I 
should be glad to say, the setting sun would stop me 
midway. But it is time for me to relieve your patience. 
Accept, with these fragmentary hintSj my cordial con- 
gratulations and good wishes. Life now smiles before 
you, and beckons you onward. Heaven grant that your 
coming days may be even happier than you hope ! To 
make them so is within your own power. They will 
not be cloudless. If you live long, disappointments and 
sorrows must come. There will be steep and rough 
passages in the way of life. But there is a Guide, in 
whose footprints you may climb the steep places without 
weariness, and tread the rough ground without stumbling. 
Add to your mental culture faith in Him, and the self- 



peabody's address. 27 

consecration of tlie Christian heart. Then even trials 
will make you happier. When clouds are over your 
way, rays from Heaven will struggle through their fis- 
sures, and fringe their edges. Your path will be onward 
and upward, ever easier, ever brighter. On that path 
may your early foosteps be planted, that the beautiful 
bloom of your youth may not wither and perish, but may 
ripen for a heavenly harvest I 



PART II 



TEENCH'S LECTUEE. 



We are all of us more or less apt to overlook that 
which is continually going on around us. We omit to 
make it a matter of inquiry, and reserve our attention 
for that which is more rare, although of far less impor- 
tance. What is it, for instance, which, after a course of 
long, sultry heat, — when the sun, day by day, has blazed 
in the sky above, — what is it, I ask, which has still 
preserved the verdure and freshness of all vegetable 
life ? Surely it has been nothing else than the dew of 
heaven, gently, regularly, plenteously falling, as each 
evening closed in. Nevertheless, how little is it thought 
of, — how little are its benefits acknowledged ! But 
when the clouds gather speedily and darkly, and perhaps 
unexpectedly, when the sense of coolness spreads once 
rnore through the parched atmosphere, when abundance 



OQ\ 



30 trench's lecture. 

of rain all at once descends, then all observe the change, 
all notice the beneficial results; jet perhaps they are 
trifling indeed compared with those of the nightly and 
forgotten dew, which has never ceased to fall, week by 
week, or even month by month, during the course of the 
drought. I feel no doubt that it will be acknowledged 
how it is the same, the very same, in all things calling 
for our observation. So, therefore, it is regarding con- 
versation, as a thing of every day. We flock to hear 
and admire some mighty orator's address, but we think 
little of and little appreciate that daily, hourly thing 
which is our subject now, — I mean conversation. But 
I leave you to judge which has the most effect on our 
general interest, as social creatures, — which, in the long 
run, has most to do with the pleasure and the profit of 
all human intercourse. 

Having made this claim on your attention, I would 
now observe that the subject is one of so wide a scope 
that I can do little more than present you with a few 
thoughts, which I have noted down as they have risen 
to my own mind, upon it. And I trust that they will 
prove not entirely unacceptable, though well indeed 
aware that the topic is one to which it must be very 
difficult indeed to do any justice. 

But I must first try to meet one objection, for which 
I am quite prepared, namely, that conversation is not a 



trench's lecture. 31 

fit subject for a lecture at all, but should be considered 
as too independent and free to have any rules, principles, 
or guidance applied to it. This, however, is indeed a 
fallacy, and may briefly be exposed by a few such ques- 
tions as those I am about to ask. What should be more 
free than the sword of the soldier in the battle day ? — 
than the pencil of the artist at the mountain side ? — or 
than the poet's song in its upward flight ? Yet who 
would condemn the use of the drill, or the study of per- 
spective, or the rules of poetic art ? No less untenable 
is it to maintain that conversation can be subject to no 
principle, rule, or review, without checking its free and 
unfettered range. Cowper has simply summed up the 
whole truth : — 

" Though conversation in its better part 
May be esteemed a gift, and not an art, 
Yet much depends, as in the tiller's toil, 
On culture and the sowing of the soil." 

Nor shall I venture to suggest any measures which I 
do not believe already well sanctioned, well honored, and 
well practised too, even by many who have never yet 
thought of classifying them at all. But these I shall 
freely give, as my duty is, at your summons this night. 
Conversation may be termed or defined as " the ex- 
hange and communication, by word, of that which is 
passing in the inward mind and heart." And none of 



32 trench's lecture. 

all known creatures, except man, has this peculiar gift. 
The animal tribes approach us, and even surpass us, in 
many of their physical powers and capacities. As to 
their capacities in the five senses of the body, I conceive 
that, generally speaking, it is so ; but none of them 
converse, like man, in expressive words, however they 
may and do comprehend one another through inferior 
means. Homer has therefore defined our race as u word- 
dividing men." And surely such a capacity or power is 
not bestowed on us unaccompanied by an obligation and 
a claim to give due diligence how we do and how we 
may employ it. Never to act thus is surely an undue 
disregard of our endowment, — a virtual depreciation 
and contempt of that which is at once among the most 
needful, the most useful, and, at the same time, most 
ornamental gifts of God to mankind. 

As, then, it is said of real wisdom, that first " it is 
pure," or free from error and wrong, so too, first of all, 
right and proper conversation must be free from every 
thing evidently and positively inconsistent with our du»y 
towards God and man. It has ever been well said that 
we must be just before we are generous. The one 
attribute is essential and indispensable in every trans- 
action of life. The acts and deeds connected with the 
other are comparatively undefined and indefinable. So 
it is essential, it is indispensable, that our conversation^ 



trench's lecture. 33 

from our own choice and deliberate aim, should be utterly 
free from all things irreverent to God and injurious to 
ou^ fellow-creatures. God's name must never be taken 
in vain. God's "Word, and divine things generally, 
must never be treated with any levity. No sentence 
must come forth from our lips having any tendency to 
undermine or subvert the principles and practices of true 
religion. These are among the mere dues and obligations 
tc Him who gives us the faculty of speech, and enables 
us to interchange conversation with our fellows ; and, 
beyond all doubt, hour after hour of silence and reserve 
would be infinitely better — more to be desired by any 
Christian — than the most entertaining and most cap- 
tivating talk of a witty but unprincipled man. And so 
too, exactly, with regard to our fellow-creatures. They 
too have an absolute claim on us, that we should res- 
olutely keep (.o the grand rule of speaking to them only 
such things as will do them no hurt, — no hurt to their 
minds, no hurt to their feelings, no hurt to their best and 
true and everlasting interest. As the words of one lead 
many to heaven and joy, so too the words of another 
lead many to hell and woe. Better, again I say, would 
it be fcr you to be silent as a dumb man than to indulge 
carelessly and wickedly in any such utterances. He 
who does it is a cruel enemy of his fellow-creatures, 
however popular, however able and attractive he may be 
3 



34 trench's lecture. 

Thus much with regard to conversation — on the 
negative side. Thus much as to that nature and char 
acter of which it must not be, under any circumstances . 
And, having no intention to make my present address 
in any degree of that more solemn and absolutely serious 
kind, which it is my privilege so often to employ in my 
profession, I will only add here that, having now seen 
what it is essential and indispensable for us to shun in 
conversation, so again, to aim at pleasing God and 
serving our fellow-creatures is not less needful, — not 
less essential, — as the one grand object and scope with 
which at all times we should use and interchange it. I 
am sure you will all admit that I could not rightly pro- 
ceed without laying down this broad, this sure foundation. 
On it we may build the lighter superstructure ; but, 
without laying it down, I could not conscientiously pro- 
ceed. Nay, farther, I feel equally convinced that many 
would perceive at once the deficiency, and regret it too, 
were I to adopt any other course. Conversation, to be 
worthy of the name at all, is not child's play. It must 
be dealt with, if considered at all, as an important and 
substantial thing, not as the mere toy wherewith to trifle 
and sport each day and hour till we pass away to meet 
that judgment where our Lord has himself declared, — 
" By your words ye shall be justified, and by your words 
ye shall be condemned." 



trench's lecture. 35 

The subject may now branch out into many and vari- 
ous directions. To make a choice is the only difficulty 
One of these may lead us to notice that, in all conver- 
sation, special attention should ever be paid to the feeling? 
of all present. Every subject should be studiously 
avoided likely to give needless pain, and perhaps, as it 
were, open the sluice-gate through which other obser- 
vations might more plentifully flow in from others of the 
company, painful to one or more in the circle. Nothing, 
of course, will teach this so much as true kindness and 
true sympathy of heart ; and, if this be wanting, offences 
of this kind will continually abound, — yes, I am sorry 
to say, will sometimes be studiously and intentionally 
committed. But even the most loving and most kindly 
spirit will do well to be very watchful on this point, 
seeking to exercise all judgment and tact in the matter ; 
and even beyond this a beautiful art is sometimes to be 
witnessed, — happy indeed are they who possess it, — 
which turns and leads away the general strain of talk 5 
and that often with unperceived skill, when approaching 
dangerous ground, or perhaps already beginning to grieve 
or disturb another. 

Among injurious practices in talk, the following may 
perhaps be enumerated : — an overbearing vehemence, 
challenging assertions, cold indifference to the statements 
of others, a love of argumentation, an inclination to 



36 trench's lecture. 

regard fair liberty of mutual address as undue license, 
pressure on another to express more than he desires, all 
personalities which would be forbidden by the royal law 
of speaking unto others as you would like to be spoken 
to yourself. These and many more transgressions, in 
our address one to another, are not only of a grave, but 
also of a very evident kind, and therefore on them, per- 
haps, there is less need to dwell. 

Others are more subtle, — more elude the grasp of 
ordinary observation. All social life, and even all family 
life, if rightly carried on, requires not only mutual for- 
bearance in talk, but mutual sympathy too, mutual 
encouragement one from the other. In families and in 
society we find the old, the young ; the busy and those 
comparatively unemployed; the studious or the literary, 
and those whose tastes are completely different ; people 
occupied in various professions and trades ; politicians 
and statesmen; soldiers and sailors; young men and 
women reared up at home, with young men and women 
reared up at schools and public institutions ; travellers 
acquainted with divers parts of the globe, and those who 
never have quitted their own land ; men of the city and 
men of the field ; — in a word, persons and characters 
almost as various in the aspect of their inward taste as 
the very features which each countenance wears, — fo* 
£ may venture to say that no two persons think or fee 



trench's lecture. 87 

(ixactly and altogether alike. Now, whenever there is 
such a thing as opinion, and whenever there is such a 
thing as feeling, (which is the case in all members of 
families, and in all members of society with whom you 
can possibly live or be thrown,) there at once is, or there 
arises, an immediate claim for a kind and proper treat- 
ment of these opinions and of these feelings. They may 
not be your own, they may be utterly different from 
your own, but that has nothing to do with the question. 
As a general rule, every one present has no less right 
to them than you have to yours. You had better go, 
like Shakspeare's Timon, altogether out of the concourse 
of your fellow-creatures, if you cannot realize this truth 
and apply it too. And it is in conversation that you 
will ever give the chief proofs and evidences whether 
you do so or not. In it there must be nothing despotic, 
— nothing to give any present the idea that you have 
any right to decide what his opinions, what his tastes, 
what his habits, what his pursuits, should be. You will, 
of course, not misunderstand me here, — not forget that 
I am supposing each opinion, each taste, each habit and 
pursuit, as, on the face of it, allowable and innocent, 
although not yours. I repeat it, there must be no des. 
potism in society. Equality must prevail as a general 
rule ; I say a general rule, because there are, no doubt, 
certain seasons and times when the intercourse of social 



38 trench's lecture. 

and of family life must partake of that special character 
which is adapted to the various relationships of man. 
The parent must, at times, simply direct the child by 
his words. The teacher, authoritatively, must instruct 
the pupil. The master or employer must tell the em< 
ployed what to do. And occasionally, in society, the rule 
above laid down will, by general consent, lie in abeyance, 
if it may be so expressed. And, on certain subjects, — 
I mean those whereon we are ourselves ignorant, but 
others in our company are highly informed, — we may 
be content to be just listeners, merely demonstrating that 
sympathy and interest adequate to keep up the flow of 
instruction from another's lips. But intercourse of this 
kind scarcely can be termed conversation ; and when 
circumstances like these occur in social and family life^ 
they must be directed by other rules not altogether ap- 
plicable to our present subject. Now, to enter with full 
sympathy into the claims of all present in society for this 
equal right of interchanged sentiment, and to show this 
feeling at times by patient forbearance and at other times 
by manifest appreciation of that which others say, is no 
slight grace and gift. And here the various lessons on 
the subject, which experience or observation has taught, 
must be brought into play ; and the information in any 
way gained as to the various feelings, habits, and tastes 
ordinarily entertained by people of different ages, differ- 



TRENCH'S LECTURE. 



39 



ent professions, and different characters, must be judi- 
ciously applied. Nor will this, in the least, spoil free 
and fair discussion of any topic. On the contrary, it 
will promote it. And thus that principle will be rightly 
maintained which I have endeavored to lay down and 
commend, viz., that when, any special opinion, feeling, or 
taste is expressed in society, — I mean, of course, in a 
proper and legitimate way, — it should always be treated 
by all present with that measure of respect which each 
one would wish exercised towards himself for his own 
personal views. Just in proportion as men are boorish, 
coarse, and unsocial, in the true and extensive sense of 
the word, will they transgress here. Yes, even put 
together one, ungainly tempered, from his field, and 
another of the same character from his shop or counting 
house, and very likely not five minutes will elapse before 
one or the other will say something to disparage those 
habits and tastes with which he himself happens to be 
not conversant. There ensues discord and disseverance, 
or, it may be, silence and separation. But, on the other 
hand, just in proportion as you are enabled to unite 
yourself with others through your demeanor and words, 
— not, of course, hypocritically or obsequiously, but from 
real sympathy with all the innocent tastes and engage- 
ments of our fellow-creatures, — just, I say, in proportion 
as you are enabled to do this, will your intercourse with 



40 trench's lecture. 

them, m the way of conversation, be of that kind at 
which we should aim. None will be afraid of your 
indulging in rebuffs, or ridicule, or depreciation. None 
will meet from you a cold, heartless, and repulsive indif- 
ference. To you, and before you, the flower * of each 
human heart (if I may so speak) will then have a ten- 
dency to open and expand its varied forms and hues, 
instead of retaining them all closed and shut up ; and 
many, many thoughts will be expressed to you and before 
you which will never be heard, or at all events rarely, 
indeed, by those of a sneering, unsympathizing, hard, and 
ungenial spirit. Thus you will be known, or rather felt, 
instinctively felt, as one w T ho will do nothing to chill, 
but, on the contrary, much to encourage that free spirit 
(in the best sense of the word) which should mark and 
imbue all social intercourse deserving the name at all ; 
and you will be welcomed by all who can appreciate 
good taste, good tact, and (I will add) good feeling too, 
— for that is the chief spring of all such conduct ; and 
you will be enabled to receive and communicate much 
pleasure and profit too, wheresoever you may go. 

A word here may not be inappropriate as to what is 
sometimes called " drawing a person out" — i. e. leading 

* " Quale i fioretti, dol notturno gielo 

Chinati e chiusi, poi che '1 sol gl' imbianca, 
Si drizzan tutti aperti in loro stelo, 
Tal mi fece io di mia virtute stanca." 

Inf. Can. ii. 127-9. 



trench's lecture. 41 

another to tell you, or any company assembled in your 
presence, what they know, what they have seen, what 
they feel, what, in a word, they are able to communicate, 
if so disposed and led. Now, this drawing out is a very 
delicate affair. When successfully done, it is most val- 
uable. When the attempt proves unsuccessful, you aie 
very likely to lose or interfere with the very object in 
view. Questioning of all kinds, — up from that on the 
simplest topic, and with a purpose of the simplest kind, 
to that involving the most important results, — ques- 
tioning, I say, of all kinds, requires judgment and tact. 
Many persons much err in this department of address. 
Some err by asking about matters on which it is quite 
clear that they have no real feeling and concern. Some 
err by demands as to your own personal proceedings, 
wherewith they have no connection. Some, again, err 
by putting questions, not wrongly or inappropriately, but 
merely too many at a time, or in too rapid a succession. 
This scarcely can be called conversation at all, — and, 
generally speaking, (though I do not deny that there are 
exceptions, which will at once recur to the intelligent,) 
yes, generally speaking, is most unsatisfactory. And 
the reason, if we analyze the matter, is, that all the 
statements, or observations, or call them what you will, 
proceed, under such circumstances, from one of the par- 
ties engaged. It is not reciprocal; it is not mutually 



12 trench's lecture. 

communicated with due equality of interchanged thought. 
You will at once perceive that this must be detrimental ; 
and I would suggest that when you may observe the 
damage which is thus done to conversation, you should 
seek at once to put the discourse on a better plan, — 
to shift it, as it were, on a better line for good progress. 
And that may sometimes be done by putting a question 
to those who question you, or even more, by making the 
number of questions on each side, in some measure, to 
correspond. This, of course, must not be done harshly 
or abruptly, nor so as to give the very least impression 
that you yourself desire to withhold and draw in ; but 
it may often be advantageously done ; and you will thus 
afford to another the natural and fit means of telling 
you something, as a response for that which you tell 
him. Then true conversation will begin ; then the due 
interchange of expression, which alone merits the name ; 
then each party becomes rightly placed, and the inter- 
course will improve almost instantaneously. 

But if, in these very commonest forms of our mutual 
address, it is not an easy thing to put questions well, — 
neither too many, nor in their wrong place, — then we 
may be well assured that it is more difficult still when 
the object, expressly, is to lead on another, gifted per- 
haps in many ways, or having perhaps some special 
thing to tell, unknown to you or others present. And 



trench's lecture. 43 

yet what a valuable art this is ! Much is lost in society 
by incapacity for its due exercise. Much is gained by 
skill in its employment. But many reasons concur to 
render it very difficult. The following may be men- 
tioned among many others. Some are full of matter, 
bu shy or reserved. Some are unaware of the deep 
interest which certain things, well known to them, would 
have for others, if they would communicate them ; (in 
illustration of this, I may perhaps quote scientific men, 
travellers, those who have led strange and peculiar 
lives.) Some are too modest to put themselves in any 
prominent light. Others are too proud so to do, lest 
they should fail in winning full attention to their words. 
Some are jaded and worn with previous hours of intel- 
lectual toil, and the current of their thoughts is still 
flowing on in a channel of its own. Some are laboring 
under a kind of awe of one or more persons in the com- 
pany. Some are young, and scarcely seem to realize or 
know how acceptable are the thoughts and fresh ex- 
pressions of youth to those of maturer years. Others 
are afraid of being too professional in their remarks. 
Others are indolent in the use of their tongue and 
utterance. And numerous other causes might be men- 
tioned, which sadly interfere with the full, free, and gen- 
eral flow of discourse or conversation. And yet, at the 
same time, there may be rich stores in the assembly, — 



44 v trench's lecture. 

much, very much, to communicate, — something, at 
least, in each either to please, or inform and improve, — 
something perhaps in every one present which, if tohl 
and expressed to those around him, would add and con- 
tribute, no slight nor unprized contribution to the com- 
mon stock. But how to elicit it — there is the difficulty. 
Nevertheless, very much may be done by tact and 
kindness, by animation and by cordiality, by watching 
and waiting for fit opportunities, by that appreciation of 
each one in the circle which will encompass and arouse 
all, as it were, with a kind of electric chain, — by a con- 
stant and deliberate aim to converse yourself at the time 
when it may be requisite, and willingly to lapse into 
silence and the background when another takes up the 
subject. And, although it is a measure which requires 
no little taste and moderation in its use, still it is some- 
times not only very graceful, but very effectual too, if 
you will open out on some few personal topics which 
may concern yourself, and thus win a response from 
others present, who may personally know or ha\e per- 
sonally gone through that which you and others in the 
company would desire, and rightly desire, to hear 
opened out without any reserve. 

In order, again, to promote conversation of a supe- 
rior sort, endeavor must be made to expand and enlarge 
»ts bounds to the very utmost. It should be of a com- 



trench's lecture. ' 45 

preheasive kind, — not the gossip of some narrow set 
not a mere comment on the persons and affairs of any 
one locality, not a wearisome and dull repetition of 
things already, perhaps long, familiar to all present. I 
repeat, it should be comprehensive, — brought forward, 
as it were, from a full treasury of " things new and old," 
and coined into various sums, larger for such occasions 
as may need, and small — yes, even to the smallest — 
for the fit use and time. It should be formed of vari- 
ous materials, of that which has been seen, and heard, 
and read. A monotonous character is fatal to it. At one 
time it should arouse and awaken, — at another it should 
calm and soothe. At one time it should lead into deep 
and grave questions, — at another it should play light- 
ly over the surface of things. At one time it may touch 
the spirit of the hearer, almost into tears, — at another 
it may raise the full freedom of laughter and mirth. At 
one time it may be addressed to all within . the conven- 
ient reach of your words, — at another to one listening 
ear. If possible, it should touch on many tastes, on 
many places, on various interests, giving to each present 
(however different each taste and character) the best 
and fairest opening for a share in the circling talk, 
which opportunity every one, at fit occasion and turn, 
should be willing to embrace, and thus to render his or 
her social dues to those who freely and fairly contrib 



46 trench's lecture. 

tite theirs. No one, on the other hand, should seek do- 
minion, nor even two or three, over the remainder. 
Again, conversation should never be allowed so to fall 
into separate or little knots, that one here or one there 
should remain alone or excluded altogether. It should 
be carried on in appropriate tones of voice. They 
should be somewhat raised, or rather, I would say, 
strengthened for the old and for those who are a little 
deaf, of whom there are many This, however, not too 
obviously ; not to remind any of infirmity. They should 
be quick, firm, and spirited for those in middle age, with 
their faculties in full strength. They should be some- 
what gentler to the young, lest they be at- all checked ; 
and somewhat slower, that they may have more time 
and means to frame their own answer. For which the 
reason is, that as " practice makes perfect " in all things, 
so thuy, whose practice has* of course, been less than 
their seniors', need more time to make up for the want 
of it, even in conversation. At all times discourse is 
liable to alternations as to its interest and life. Expect 
(his. and even should it become at any moment what is 
called dull, or even should an awkward pause and 
silence come on, do not seem to notice it. This will 
only make it worse. Rather try yourself to gather up 
„he broken thread, or to introduce some new matter. 
Every one should avoid bringing forward or needlessly 



trench's lecture. 47 

dwelling on any topic whatsoever likely to affect any 
others present with any unfavorable reminiscences. The 
wealthy ^vill avoid, as a general rule, allusions to their 
property and wealth before any persons who, although 
their equals in society, are known to be of poor and 
inadequate estate. The healthy and the vigorous of 
frame will not forget that others are invalids ; those free 
as air in the disposition of their time, that others have 
but very little, and that with difficulty spared ; the quick 
and intelligent, that others are more slow in apprehen- 
sion ; those of hardy spirit, well strung and braced, that 
others are nervous, sensitive, and tried by words, tones, 
gestures, and expressions, which would not try, nor vex, 
or affect them in the least degree. But what tact is 
requisite in all this ! And many, many failures must 
there be ; sins of commission and of omission too, even 
among those who earnestly seek in this matter to fulfil, 
always and every where, the rules of true courtesy, and, 
which is better still, the rules of true Christian love. 
Nevertheless, the aim at which we point is by no 
means without its value as a profitable exercise both of 
the mind and heart. No, nor is it ineffectual and un- 
blessed. For, although at times words may be said 
which we would long to recall, and strings of feeling 
touched by our utterance which afterthought tells us we 
should not have moved, and topics handled with much 



48 



want of that skill and judgment which we should have 
wished most truly to employ, still, with a good aim be- 
fore us, and with right principles in some measure real- 
ized, and seeking to correct any error, when discovered, 
as well as to advance more in all which improves and 
adorns right social intercourse, much will be done to- 
wards the goodly -end. And large indeed will be the 
amount of pleasure and of benefit which you may thus 
hope to reap for yourself and communicate to others in 
the course of your life, and that, too, up to an age. 
should your days be prolonged, when you may be shut 
up, or at all events much restrained, from many other 
means of active usefulness. For the mellowed wisdom 
of age, showing and expressing itself in that charity 
and sympathy for all which nothing less than experience 
itself has taught, is indeed a strong and beautiful thing. 

Hitherto I have spoken altogether on conversation 
with those whose rank and position of life corresponds 
with your own. A few words now on conversation, 
first, with those of a higher rank, and. secondly, with 
[hose in the humbler conditions of life — to use the 
common phrase ; and every man should be qualified and 
prepared for any and for all kinds of association. 

To those of a higher rank than ourselves we may. 
without derogating in the least from our independence 
and self-respect, show that deference which not only the 



49 



customs of all nations, but the Scripture also most evi- 
dently inculcates. This, of course, will appear when 
engaged with them in conversation. It will, however, 
be shown rather in some occasional acknowledgment 
than in the manner or matter of discourse. The rank 
of another does not in the least demand that you should 
surrender your opinion to his, nor conceal your senti- 
ments, nor assume any other line of subjects and topics 
than you would address to those more immediately your 
eq ials in worldly position. A vague, undefined notion 
seems to float through each rank of society in our land, 
that those in the stage above think, feel, and act in a 
manner different from those below. A very great mis- 
take this, which oftentimes chills and checks and mars 
all open freedom of address when one of a higher and 
one of a lower rank are brought into those circumstances 
where the opportunity for conversation occurs, if not the 
absolute claim. But let it be remembered that the mind 
and heart of man or of woman varies but little through 
these more distinctions of the world. I do not say that 
it does not vary at all, but very little. The main current 
of joy, the main current of sorrow, is the same in all 
classes, though the lesser streams may variously and 
separately flow. The main current of affections, of 
interests, is the same. All are subject to the same need 
of kind, friendly sympathy ; all are made to interchange 
4 



50 trench's lecture. 

thought; all share in the manifold impressions of om 
common nature. Wealth and nobility, and rank and 
station, are, after all, only artificial things, not the main 
staple of life in any man or woman. When, therefore, 
you are brought into the society of one or more like 
these, be to them appropriately courteous. Acknowledge 
their position at once, and then let your intercourse with 
them flow freely on, just as with others. Trouble not 
them, nor trouble yourself, with any other system of 
address. Deprive not them, nor deprive yourself, of 
free, open, natural communication. And, depend upon 
it, that acting and speaking thus, you will not only be 
oftentimes pleased rather than silenced and embarrassed 
by such society, but you will be sure to please and to 
be valued, — yes, and to meet no less friendly sympathy, 
both of mind and heart, than is to be found in each 
other rank of life. 

And now a few words on conversation with our poorer 
friends or neighbors, or any persons in this class of life 
with whom, habitually, we may have to do, or whom we 
may meet at any time or place. And few of that class 
being, I conclude, here, I may speak to you as those 
who would gladly receive any hints for kind consideration 
as to the right way of fulfilling your own part in this 
matter. For I, too, would wish to be a learner on it, 
so important do I conceive it to be. So much has been 



trench's lecture. 51 

said, and so much has been written, on the benefit of 
free, kindly intercourse between the rich and the poor, 
the employers and the employed, those who labor with 
their heads and those who labor with their hands, that 
any more general or vague observations on the subject 
would be quite out of place here. T shall, accordingly, 
regard you not only as admitting this truth, but also ae 
desirous yourselves to exemplify it ; and, again, as ad- 
mitting, and feeling too, that merely to pay wages, and 
to give directions and commands, and to bestow alms, 
and to support charitable institutions (however needful 
and good such things may be,) is not enough for one 
desiring to secure the sympathy and love of his poorer 
brethren. For that you must be ready, willing, able to 
converse with them. To qualify yourself for doing this, 
is in many professions an indispensable and most evident 
duty, — for instance, with the ministers of religion and 
with medical men. They could do nothing without such 
conversation, And, considering it due at proper seasons 
from every one in a higher class of life to those below 
them, I shall just offer you a few hints, which seem to 
me not unworthy of note. Avoid, then, on the one hand, 
all hard, overbearing address ; while, on the other, there 
must be energy, spirit, firmness, and life. Avoid all 
semblance of patronage and condescension, but at tht* 
same time never make any forced attempts to appear 



52 TKENCH S LECTURE. 

tfhat you are not, or to assume a character not your own, 
Do not imagine the range of subjects small ; and, when 
you can, choose those topics in which you and those ad- 
dressed both take an interest. Many there are common 
to all classes. Be not impatient to come to a point too 
quick; but give people a full opportunity to express them- 
selves in their own way ; nor count this waste time. It 
is very much otherwise. Use short rather than long 
sentences, — language colloquial, not that of books, — 
giving emphasis, tone, and strength to your words, — 
never lapsing into cold, lifeless, inexpressive tones. 
Trust oftentimes, in conversation with the poor and com- 
paratively uneducated, that there is much more intel- 
ligence within than the answer which they make in 
words would lead you, at first sight, to expect. Be will- 
ing and ready to tell something about yourself, your 
family, and concerns, when there appears any interest 
about them. Remember that family ties and affections 
are strong in one as in another of the human family ; 
and, as among your own friends and associates you 
would refer to these natural topics, so do here. Let 
wants and necessities, and trials and difficulties, not be 
forgotten, but let them not be the whole subject-matter 
of discourse. No, let it range far more widely, far more 
attractively; and your looks and your demeanor, and 
your tones and words, being all directed by good wilL 



TRENCH'S LECTURE. 53 

and by practice too, you indeed will be no idler in good 
works during times and occasions thus employed. You 
will win much love, much esteem, much appreciation ; 
you will hear much right feeling expressed, and, at times, 
much to inform you of a practical kind. You will do 
good and receive good too. 

It appears to me that I have now presented to your 
notice almost a sufficiency of topics, relative to conver- 
sation, for one single lecture. Nevertheless, I feel un- 
willing to conclude without drawing your attention to a 
few facts connected with the subject. One is, that the 
ablest and mightiest authors of all times and countries 
have borne their strong testimony to the attraction which 
conversation presents, by casting a large portion of their 
writings into this form or mould. Thus did Homer in 
poetry, Plato in philosophy, and dramatists, of all ages, 
in their plays. Thus did Cicero in his various treatises ; 
and Horace appears * talking to you in many and many 
a page. Dante's grand poem, " II Purgatorio," is chiefly 
a conversation. The French have ever excelled in such 
writings ; and of such a character is that well-known 
gem in the literature of Spain — I of course allude to 
" Don Quixote." In Shakspeare and Walter Scott it is 
the same, and they, perhaps, are the most popular writers 



{ Omne vafer Vitium ridenti Flaccus amico 
Tangit, et admissus circum praecordia ludit.' 



Pers. i. 110 



54 TRENCH S LECTURE. 

of our land, except one. Who, do you ask, is that? 
John Bunyan, the author of the "Pilgrim's Progress;" 
but that very book conies up with its testimony too, 
being a dialogue throughout, — rich in pathos and wit, 
rich in illustration, rich in experience, rich in all variety 
and combination, — in a word, the very perfection of 
talk ; not less attractive than it is weighty, not less enter- 
taining than heavenly, holy, and full of all things which 
make a book precious. 

But another book there is, of which it is well said, — 

" A glory gilds the sacred page, 
Majestic like the sun ! 
It gives a light to every age ; 
It gives, but borrows none." 

And in that book of books there are four short but most 
mighty narratives. And each of those narratives con- 
tains the one most important record which ever had to 
be told upon this earth. Each of them gives one con- 
current history; namely, that of the life of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, with his sayings and his deeds. And of 
conversation these holy narratives are full. God has 
chosen this mode of reaching our minds and influencing 
our hearts, by large — very large — portions of them 
written after this fashion. Cowper felt this so deeply, 
that, in his poem on our present subject, he has beauti- 
fully told and paraphrased all that went*on when Jesua 



trench's lecture. 55 

met and talked with the two disciples on the way to 
Emmaus. Moreover, in those Gospels, there is one, 
penned by that u disciple whom Jesus loved ; " and if 
there is much conversation in all four of them, in it 
especially — in the Gospel of St. John — conversation 
appears in all its full and continued glory. Take one 
or two examples. Mankind, all mankind, had to be 
taught about the complete atonement for our sins made 
by our Saviour on the cross. Where is it more clearly, 
more mightily told than in the third chapter of St. John's 
Gospel ? But what is that chapter ? Is it a law pre- 
scribed in set terms ? — No. Is it a sermon ? — No 
Is it a mere address ? — No. You will all remember i' 
is a conversation, — Christ's conversation with Nico 
demus by night. And so it is again in the very nexf 
chapter, where a subject of no less importance — I say 
it advisedly, no less importance — is set forth, viz., the 
work of the Holy Spirit in man's heart ; and that is por- 
trayed for us in a conversation with the woman of Sa- 
maria, at Sychar's well. What striking instances are 
(hese ! And many others might be added to them. And 
thus we have before us even the sanction and proof 
from the Word of God, that the most mighty and tran- 
scendent truth can reach us in no better form than that 
which conversation gives, and also that Jesus Christ put 
his own royal stamp of glory on it, by employing it 



56 trench's lecture. 

Himself continually, when upon the earth among men^ 
though he was their Lord and their God. 

Having thus been led on, — I think very naturally, 
and, as I think, quite appropriately, too, for cue of my 
office and position, at any time or place, or on any sub- 
ject, — I will not return to any lighter theme. I do not 
in the least regret that I have selected my present topic 
out of very many which suggested themselves to my 
mind, when I was asked to exercise the privilege of thus 
addressing you, as I have now done for these four years. 
I might have chosen others far more entertaining, and, 
no doubt, some far more kindling and exciting at this 
present time,* when our thoughts and our feelings are 
all so concentrated on one distant spot of strife and of 
contest, and of danger, and of bravery, and wounds, and 
deaths, and bereavements, — and amidst all, of honor 
unexampled to our brave brethren in arms. But, for 
many reasons, I have done otherwise. I have chosen, 
as usual, a subject of general, of national, of wide- world, 
of never-failing interest, from day to day, from week to 
week, from month to month, from year to year, among 
the vast race of our fellows, — born social creatures, born 
for mutual sympathy, with interchanged utterance, 
speech, and conversation. Strongly do I feel its impor- 
tance, and T cannot help expressing my surprise that so 

* December, 18^4 



trench's lecture. 57 

little, so very little, has systematically been written or 
said upon it. I have found it no ordinary theme, J 
assure you ; and, though it is one on which we all in 
stinctively are interested in any circle, or with whom- 
soever we may at any time be, still it is not one on which 
th? arrangement and classification of thought is an easy 
thing. I therefore shall not feel disappointed, nor, do I 
trust, will you be disappointed either, in that good em- 
ployment of your time which you have a right to expect 
from me, as your lecturer to-night here, if I shall have 
set before you any thoughts, for your attention, which 
may improve, in the least degree, the course and the 
current of ordinary conversation. When we remember 
how much of our innocent gratification, — how much of 
our daily harmony one with another, — how much of 
our mutual improvement, — depends on the right exer- 
cise of this goodly gift, — then, I am sure, you will not 
consider that the subject is one to be neglected or 
ignored. I verily believe that I do not overstate the 
fact, in asserting that for one time when we are liable to 
hurt, or distress, or offend another by our acts and deeds, 
there are fifty or a hundred, or perhaps more, occasions, 
when we are liable to do so by our words, and demeanor, 
and utterance. And again, for once that we can do 
kind and profitable actions to those around us, and 
associating with us, there are fifty or a hundred,— 



58 trench's lecture. 

perhaps more occasions still, — when we can please or 
profit another by our words. I ask you, as those who 
can judge in this matter for yourselves, " Is it not so ? 
Is it not so most undeniably ? " Well, then, if I have 
been successful in laying down any right principles, in 
exposing any thing disadvantageous, or in presenting 
any available means for rendering your daily intercourse 
more evidently kind, more evidently sympathizing, more 
evidently, in a word, such as that which every good 
man would wish to exhibit, and which must render him 
not only welcome and not only useful, but a real and 
true ornament of society in the best sense of the word ; 
if I have shown you any thing whatever available to this 
end, whether for your use at home or abroad, in the 
cottage or the shop, in the humblest abode or in the 
noblest and in the wealthiest, then surely I shall not have 
spoken in vain. I speak on no narrow topic, and I 
speak for all. Truly it is one which touches all ; and in 
this lie its strength and its interest. There is no one, 
I believe, who does not intuitively and instinctively feel 
either his gain or his loss in conversation, — the effect 
of it on his own mind and on his own feelings at the 
time and afterwards, — either its harms or its charms. 
All must feel this, though unable perhaps to classify 
their thoughts or express them on it, and perhaps they 
have never thought of so doing. And I, for one, will 



trench's lecture. 59 

not hesitate to say that, it having been my lot to mix 
nuch, and willingly, in all the various classes of society, 
— and having endeavored, eo far as in my power has 
been, to cultivate and show a true brotherly and friendly 
spirit, both to high and low, — I have met nothing to 
confer more pleasure and more advantage in daily life 
than fit conversation. I have found it from the poorest. 
I have found it from those of middle station. I have 
found it among the noble and the rich. And, while 
without it the hours of social and of family life may drag 
on heavily, and in a wearisome and worthless way, under 
the roofs of splendor and magnificence, and in the midst 
of feasts, and pomp, and parade, with it, freely inter- 
changed from well-informed heads and cordial hearts, 

expressing what they know and telling what they feel, 

• 
without any restraint except that of love, and tact, and 

propriety, — with it, I say, the simplest home may be one 
of enjoyment and improvement every recurring day, and 
each coming guest will share its attractions, — and there- 
fore I say to every one present, "Despise not this gift, 
and try to improve it ; and seek divine help for its right 
regulation, as well as for its use ; and be well assured 
that, under God's blessing, in its direction you will gain 
for yourself, and promote for your fellow-creatures, no 
slight share of true enjoyment, no slight benefits both for 
this world and for the world to come." 



PART III. 



A WORD TO THE WISE 



INTRODUCTION. 

It is readily acknowledged, by all well-educated for- 
eigners, that English grammar is very easy to learn, 
the difficulties of the language lying in the numberless 
variations and licenses of its pronunciation. Since to 
as then, children of the soil, pronunciation has no diffi- 
culties to offer, is it not a reproach that so many speak 
their own language in an inelegant and slatternly man- 
ner, — either through an inexcusable ignorance of gram- 
matical rules, or a careless violation of them ? There 
are two sorts of bad speakers, — the educated and the 
uneducated. I write for the former, and I shall deal the 
less leniently with them, because where there have been 
superior privileges, we have a right to expect a high 
standard of accuracy and good taste. Ay, and where 
much has been achieved too, and intellectual laurels 
have been gathered, is it not a reproach that a coarse 

(61) 



62 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

mode of expression should sometimes detract from the 
eloquence of the scholar, and place the accomplished 
man or woman, in this respect, on a level with the half 
educated or the illiterate ? 

Some one, I think it is Lord Chesterfield, has wisely 
said, " Whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well." 
Then, if our native language is worth studying, surely 
it is worth speaking ivell; and as there is no standing still 
in excellence of any kind, so, even in language, — in so 
simple a thing as the expression of our thoughts by 
words, — if we do not improve we shall retrograde. 

It is a common opinion that a knowledge of Latin 
supersedes the necessity of the study of English gram- 
mar. This must entail a strong imputation of careless 
ness on our Latin students, who sometimes commit such 
solecisms in English as make us regret that they did 
not once, at least, peruse the grammatical rules of their 
native language. 

We laugh at the blunders of a foreigner, but per- 
petrate our own offences with so much gravity that an 
observer would have a right to suppose we considei 
them — what they really are — no laughing matter. 



JL WOHD TO THE WISE. 63 



CHAPTER I. 

i. 

Some people speak of " so many spoonsfull" instead 
of " so many spoonfuls." The rule on this subject says : 
" Compounds ending in ful, and all those in which the 
principal word is put last, form the plural in the same 
manner as other nouns, — as, ' handfuls, spoonfuls, mouth- 
fuls,' " &c, &c. 

Logic will demonstrate the propriety of this rule. 
Are you measuring by a plurality of spoons? If so, 
" so many spoonsfull " must be the correct term ; but if 
the process of measuring be effected by refilling the same 
spoon, then it becomes evident that the precise idea 
meant to be conveyed is, the quantity contained in the 
vessel by which it is measured, which is a " spoonful" 

IT. 

A person who would not pass for a smatterer should 
speak and write in one language at a time. Highly 
cultivated people always take pains to avoid the use of 
foreign words and phrases, both in their writings and in 
their conversation. All foreign words which have 
become identified with our language, should be treated 
as English words, just so soon as respectable usage has 



64 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

Anglicized them, even if high authority can be given foi 
retaining the foreign forms. Hence it is better to form 
the plurals of such words as memorandum, encomium, 
momentum, gymnasium, scholium, medium, automaton, 
criterion, and stamen, by adding s to the singular, accord- 
*ng to the rule for English words, than to change the 
terminations according to the rules of the languages from 
which they have been borrowed. There is another class 
of foreign words in common use, such as arcanum, 
effluvium, erratum, phenomenon, stratum-, &c, whose plu- 
rals are formed by changing the um or on into a. 

Whenever there are two words of similar meaning, 
one foreign and the other English, it always sounds more 
or less pedantic to use the foreign. Use suit, for the 
French suite, (sweet,) in speaking of a suit of clothes, a 
suit of apartments, or governor and suit ; also station, 
for that unmanageable French word depot, in speaking 
of a stopping-place, on a railway, or, at its termination, 
for taking in passengers or goods. 

hi. 

We have heard pulse and patience treated as plural- 
ities, much to our astonishment, in such expressions as, 
" His pulse are regular," " Her patience are exhausted." 
We have also heard ashes and pains used in the singular 
number, as, " That ashes is to be removed," " Great 
pains was taken to prevent it " 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 65 



IT. 

It seems to be a position assumed by all grammarians, 
that their readers already understand the meaning of 
the word "case," as applied to nouns and pronouns; 
hence they never enter into a clear explanation of the 
simple term, but proceed at once to a discussion of its 
grammatical distinctions, in which it frequently happens 
that the student, for want of a little introductory expla- 
nation, is unable to accompany them. But I am not 
going to repeat to the scholar how the term " case " is 
derived from a Latin word signifying " to fall," and is 
so named because all the other cases fall or decline from 
the nominative, in order to express the various relations 
of nouns to each other, — which in Latin they do by a 
difference of termination, in English by the aid of prep- 
ositions, — and that an orderly arrangement of all these 
different terminations is called the declension of a noun, 
&c. I am not going to repeat to the scholar the. things 
he already knows; but to you, my gentle readers, to 
whom the Latin is still an unknown tongue, to whom 
grammars have become obsolete things, and grammatical 
definitions would be bewildering preliminaries, "more 
honored in the breach than in the observance," — to you 
i am anxious to explain, in the clearest mannei prac- 
ticable, all the mysteries of " case," because it was a 
5 



66 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

cruel perplexity to myself in days of yore. And I will 
endeavor to make my lecture as brief and clear as pos- 
sible, requesting you to bear in mind that no knowledge 
is to be acquired without a little trouble, and that 
whosoever may consider it 4oo irksome a task to exert 
the understanding for a short period, must be content to 
remain in inexcusable and irremediable ignorance ; 
though I cannot suppose, when you come to perceive 
how great the errors are which you daily commit, you 
will regret having sat down quietly for half an hour to 
listen to an unscholastic exposition of them. 

v. 

We all understand the meaning of the word " case," 
as it is applied to the common affairs of life ; but when 
we meet with it in our grammars, we view it as an 
abstruse term. We will not consent to believe that it 
means nothing more than position of affairs, condition, 
or circumstances , any one of which words might be 
substituted for it with equal propriety, if it were not 
indispensable in grammar to adhere strictly to the same 
term when we wish to direct the attention unerringly to 
the same thing, and to keep the understanding alive to 
the justness of its application ; whilst a multiplicity of 
names for one thing would be likely to create confusion. 
Thus, if one were to say, " This is a very hard case," or 



A WORD TO TiiE WISE. 67 

" A singular case occurred the other day," or " That 
poor man's case is a very deplorable one" we should 
readily comprehend that by the word " case " was meant 
" circumstance " or " situation ; " and when we speak, in 
the language of the grammar, of " a noun in the nom- 
inative case," we only mean a person or thing placed it 
such circumstances as to be merely named, or named 
as the performer of some action, — as, "the man," 01 
"the man walks." In both these expressions, "man" if 
in the nominative case ; because in the first he is simply 
named, without reference to any circumstance respecting 
him, and in the second he is named as the performer of 
the act of walking mentioned. When we speak of a 
noun in the possessive case, we simply mean a person 
or thing placed under such circumstances as to be 
named as the possessor of something ; and when we 
speak of a noun in the objective case, we only intend to 
express a person or thing standing in such a situation as 
to be, in some way or other, affected by the act of some 
other person or thing, — as " Henry teaches Charles." 
Here Henry is, by an abbreviation of terms, called the 
nominative case, (instead of the noun in the nominative 
case,) because he stands in that situation in which it is 
incumbent on us to name him as the performer of the act 
of teaching ; and Charles is, by the same abbreviating 
license, called the objective case, because he is in such a 



68 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

position of affairs as to receive the act of teaching which 
Henry performs. I will now tell you how you may 
always distinguish the three cases. Read the sentence 
attentively, and understand accurately what the nouns 
are represented as doing. If any person or thing be 
ix presented as performing an action , that person or thing 
is a noun in the nominative case. If any person or 
thing be represented as possessing something, that person 
or thing is a noun in the possessive case. And if any 
person or thing be represented as neither performing nor 
possessing, it is a noun in the objective case, whether 
directly or indirectly affected by the action of the nom 
inative ; because, as we have in English but three cases, 
which contain the substance of the six Latin cases, what- 
ever is neither nominative nor possessive must be objective* 
Here I might wander into a long digression on passive 
and neuter verbs, which I may seem to have totally 
overlooked in the principle just laid down ; but I am 
not writing a grammar, — not attempting to illustrate 
the various ramifications of grammatical laws to people 
who know nothing at all about them, — any more than 
I am writing for the edification of the accomplished 
scholar, to whom purity of diction is already familiar 
I am writing, chiefly, for that large portion of the edu- 
eated classes who have never looked into a grammar 
since their school days were over, but who have in- 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 69 

geniously hewn out for themselves a middle path between 
ignorance and knowledge, and to whom certain little 
hillocks in their way have risen up, under a dense 
atmosphere, to the magnitude of mountains. I merely 
wish to give to them, since they will not take the trouble 
to search for themselves, one broad and general principle, 
unclogged by exceptions, to guide them to propriety of 
speech ; and should they afterwards acquire a taste for 
grammatical disputation, they will of course resoit to 
more extensive sources for the necessary qualifications, 

VI. 

It is scarcely possible to commit any inaccuracy in 
the use of these cases when restricted to nouns, but in 
the application of them to pronouns a woful confusion 
often arises ; though even in this confusion there exists a 
marked distinction between the errors of the ill-bred 
and those of the well-bred man. To use the objective 
instead of the nominative is a vulgar error ; to use the 
nominative instead of the objective is a genteel error. 
No person of decent education would think of saying, 
" Him and me are going to the play ; " yet how often do 
we hear even well-educated people say, "They were 
coming to see my brother and I; " " The claret will be 
packed in two hampers for Mr. Smith and /; " " Let 
you and / try to move it ; " " Let him and i" go up and 



70 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

speak to them ; " " Between you and I, " &c, &c. — faults 
as gross as that of the more ignorant person who says, 
"Him and me are going to the play," and with less 
excuse. Two minutes' reflection will enable the scholar 
to correct himself, and a little exercise of memory will 
shield him from a repetition of the fault ; but, for the 
benefit of those who may not be scholars, we will accom- 
pany him through the mazes of his reflections. Who 
are the persons that are performing the act of " coming 
to see ? " " They? Then the pronoun they must stand 
in the nominative case. Who are the persons to whom 
the act of " coming to see " extends ? " My brother and 
I." Then " my brother and I," being the objects affected 
by the act of the nominative, must be a noun and pro- 
noun standing in the objective case ; and as nouns are 
not susceptible of change on account of cases, it is only 
the 'pronoun which requires alteration to render the 
sentence correct : " They were coming to see my brother 
and me" The same argument is applicable to the other 
examples given. In the English language, the imper- 
ative mood of a verb is never conjugated with a pronoun 
in the nominative case, therefore, " Let you and /try to 
move it," " Let him and / go up and speak to them," 
are manifest improprieties. A very simple test may be 
formed by taking away the first noun or pronoun from 
the sentence altogether, and bringing the verb or prep- 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 71 

osition right against that pronoun which you use to 
designate yourself; thus, " They were coming to see I; 99 
" The claret will be packed in two hampers for /; " " Let 
/try to move it," &c. By this means your own ear will 
correct you, without^ any reference to grammatical rules. 
And bear in mind that the number of nouns it may be 
necessary to press into the sentence will not alter the 
case respecting -the pronouns. 

" Between you and I " is as erroneous an expression 
as any. Change the position of the pronouns, and say, 
' Between I and you; " or change the sentence altogether, 
and say, " Between I and the wall there was a great 
gap ; " and you will soon see in what case the first per- 
son should be rendered. " Prepositions govern the 
objective case ; " therefore it is impossible to put a nom- 
inative after a preposition without a gross violation of a 
rule which ought to be familiar to every body. 

VII. 

The same mistake extends to the relative pronouns 
" who " and "whom." We seldom hear the objective 
case used either by vulgar or refined speakers. " Who 
did you give it to ? " " Who is this for ? " are solecisms 
of daily occurrence. When the objective "whom" is 
used, it is often put in the wrong place ; as, " The person 
whom I expected would purchase that estate ; " " The 



72 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

man whom they intend shall execute that work." This 
intervening verb in each sentence, "I expected" and 
"they intend," coming between the last verb and its 
nominative, (the relative pronoun,) has no power to 
alter the rule, and no right to violate it; but as the 
introduction of an intervening verb, in such situations, 
is likely to beguile the ear and confuse the judgment, it 
would be better to avoid such constructions altogether, 
and turn the sentence in a different way; as, "The per- 
son whom I expected to be the purchaser of that estate," 
"The man whom they intend to execute that work." 
If the reader will cut off the intervening verb, which has 
nothing to do with the construction of the sentence, 
except to mystify it, he will perceive at a glance the 
error and its remedy : " The person whom would pur- 
chase that estate ; " " The man whom shall execute that 
work." Another common error may be observed in the 
use of the objective case of personal pronouns instead of 
the nominative, A lady inquires of her friend, " Who 
was that gentleman walking with you yesterday ? " " It 
was my brother, who has just returned from Europe." 
"I thought it was him from his resemblance to your 
father." " Mary attempted to surprise me this evening, 
but as soon as I heard a lady's step, I knew it was her." 



WORD TO THE WISE. 73 



VIII. 

It is very easy to mistake the nominative when another 
noun comes between it and the verb, which is frequently 
the case in the use of the indefinite and distributive 
pronouns ; as, " One of those houses were sold last 
week ; " " Each of the daughters are to have a separate 
6hare ; " " Every tree in those plantations have been in- 
jured by the storm ; " " Either of the children are at 
liberty to claim it." Here it will be perceived that the 
pronouns " one," " each," " every," " either," are the true 
nominatives to the verbs ; but the intervening noun in 
the plural number, in each sentence, deludes the ear, 
and the speaker, without reflection, renders the verb in 
the plural instead of the singular number. The same 
error is often committed when no second noun appears 
to plead an apology for the fault ; as, " Each city have 
their peculiar privileges ; " " Every body has a right to 
look after their own interest ; " " Either are at liberty to 
claim it" This is the effect of pure carelessness. 

IX. 

There is another very common error, the reverse of 
the last mentioned, which is that of rendering the adjec- 
tive pronoun in the plural number instead of the singular 
in such sentences as the following: " These kind of 



74 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

entertainments are not conducive to general improve* 
ment;" " Those sort of experiments are often dangerous." 
This error seems to originate in the habit which people 
insensibly acquire of supposing the prominent noun in 
the sentence (such as " entertainments " or " exper- 
iments") to be the noun qualified by the adjective 
" these " or " those ; " instead of which it is " kind," 
"sort," or any word of that description immediately 
following the adjective, which should be so qualified, 
and the adjective must be made to agree with it in the 
singular number. We confess it is not so agreeable to 
the ear to say, ft This kind of entertainments," " That 
sort of experiments ; " but it would be easy to give the 
sentence a different form, and say, " Entertainments of 
this kind," " Experiments of that sort," by which the 
requisitions of grammar would be satisfied, and those of 

euphony too. 

x. 

But the grand fault, the glaring impropriety, com- 
mitted by " all ranks and conditions of men," rich and 
poor, high and low, illiterate and learned, — except, per- 
haps, one in twenty, — and from which not even the 
pulpit or the bar is totally free, — is, the substitution of 
the active verb lay for the neuter verb lie, (to lie down.) 
The scholar knows that " active verbs govern the objec- 
tive case," and therefore demand an objective case afte 



A W011D TO THE WISE. 75 

th^m ; and that neuter verbs will not admit an objective 
sue after them, except through the medium of a prep- 
osition. He, therefore, has no excuse for his error ; it is 
a wilful one ; for him the following is not written. And 
here I may as well say, once for all, that while I would 
remind the scholar of his lapses, my instructions and 
explanations are offered only to the class which requires 
them. 

"To lay" is an active transitive verb, like love, 
demanding an objective case after it, without the inter- 
vention of a preposition. " To lie " is a neuter verb, 
not admitting an objective case after it, except through 
the intervention of a preposition. Yet this "perverse 
generation " will go on substituting the former for the 
latter. Nothing can be more erroneous than to say, as 
people constantly do, " I shall go and lay down." The 
qiestion which naturally arises in the mind of the 
discriminating hearer is, " What are you going to lay 
down — money, carpets, plans, or what?" for, as a 
transitive verb is used, an object is wanted to complete 
the sense. The speaker means, in fact, to tell us that 
he (himself) is going to lie down, instead of which he 
gives us to understand that he is going to lay down oj 
put down something which he has not named, but which 
it is necessary to name before we can understand the 
sentence ; and this sentence, when completed according 



76 A WORD TO THE WISE. . 

to the rules of grammar, will never convey the meaning 
he intends. One might as well use the verb " to put " 
in this situation, as the verb " to lay," for each is a trans- 
itive verb, requiring an objective case immediately after 
it. If you were to enter a room, and, finding a person 
lying on the sofa, were to address him with such a ques- 
tion as " What are you doing there ? " you would think 
it ludicrous if he were to reply, " I am putting dowa." 
Yet it would not be more absurd than to say, " I am 
laying down;" but custom, whilst it fails to reconcile 
us to the error, has so familiarized us with it, that we 
hear it without surprise, and good breeding forbids our 
noticing it to the speaker. The same mistake is com- 
mitted through all the tenses of the verb. How often 
are nice ears wounded by the following expressions: 
" My brother lays ill of a fever ; " " The vessel lays in 
St. Katherine's Docks;" "The books were laying on 
the floor ; " " He laid on a sofa three weeks ; " " After 
I had laid down, I remembered that I had left my pistols 
liying on the table." You must perceive that, in every 
one of these instances, the wrong verb is used ; correct 
it, therefore, according to the explanation given ; thus, 
" My brother lies ill of a fever ; " " The vessel lies in 
St. Katherine's Docks ; " " The books were lying on 
the floor ; " " He lay on a sofa three weeks ; " " After 
I had lain down, I remembered that I had left my pis- 
tols lying on the table." 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 



77 



It is probable that this error has originated in the 
circumstance of the present tense of the verb " to lay " 
being similar to the imperfect tense of the verb " to lie ; " 
and in order to remedy the evil which this resemblance 
seems to have created, I have conjugated at full length 
the simple tenses of the two verbs, hoping the exposition 
may be found useful ; for it is an error which must be 
corrected by all who aspire to the merit of speaking their 
own language well. 



Vehb Active. 

To lay. 
Present Tense. 

— any 



We lay 
You lay 
They lay 



thing. 



Imperfect Tense. 



I laid 

Thou laidest 
He laid 
We laid 
You laid 
They laid 

Present Participle, Laying. 
Perfect Participle, Laid. 



money, 
carpets, 
> plans, 
1 — any 
thing. 



Vehb Neuter. 
To lie. 

Present Tense. 
Hie 

Thou liest 
He lies 
We lie 
You lie 
They lie 



down, 
too long, 
V on a sofa, 
— any 
where. 



Imperfect Tense. 
Hay 

Thou layest 
He lay 
We lay 
You lay 
They lay 

Present Participle, Lying. 
Perfect Participle, Lain. 



down, 
too long, 
> on a sofa, 
— any 
where. 



In such sentences as these, wherein the verb is used 
reflectively, — "If I lay myself down on the grass I 
shall catch cold," " He laid himself down on the green- 
sward," — the verb " to lay " is with propriety substi- 
tuted for the verb " to lie ; " for the addition of the 
emphatic pronoun myself, or himself, constituting an 



78 A WORD TO THE WTSE. 

objective case, and coming immediately after the verb, 
without the intervention of a preposition, renders it 
necessary that the verb employed should be active, not 
neuter, because " active verbs govern the objective case." 
But this is the only construction in which "to lay," 
instead of "to lie," can be sanctioned by the rules of 
grammar. 

XI. 

The same confusion often arises in the use of the verbs 
sit and set. Sit is a neuter verb, set an active one ; yet 
how often do people most improperly say, " I have set 
with him for hours ; " " He set on the beach till the sun 
went down ; " " She set three nights by the patient's bed- 
side." What did they set? — plants, trees, traps, or 
what? for as an objective case is evidently implied by 
the use of an active verb, an object is indispensable to 
complete the sense. No tense whatever of the verb " to 
sit " is rendered " set," which has but one word through- 
out the whole verb, except the active participle " set- 
ting;" and "sit "has but two words, " sit " and "sat/ 
except the active participle " sitting ; " therefore it is. 
easy to correct this error by the help of a little attention 

XII. 

Itaise is the same kind of verb as set — active tran- 
sitive, requiring an objective case after it ; and it con- 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 79 

tains only two words, raise and raised, besides the active 
participle raising. Hise is a neuter verb, not admitting 
an objective case. It contains two words, rise and rose ; 
besides the two participles, rising and risen. It is 
improper, therefore, to say, " He rose the books from the 
floor ; " " He rises the fruit as it falls ; " " After she had 
risen the basket on her head," &c. In all such cases 
use the other verb, raise. It occurs to me, that if people 
would take the trouble to reckon how many different 
words a verb contains, they would be in less danger of 
mistaking them. " Lay " contains two words, " lay " 
and "laid," besides the active participle "laying." 
" Lie " has also two words, " lie " and " lay," besides the 
two participles "lying" and "lain;" and from this sec- 
ond word " lay " arises all the confusion I have had to 
lament in the foregoing pages. 

XIII. 

To the scholar I would remark the prevalent impro- 
priety of adopting the subjunctive instead of the indica- 
tive mood, in sentences where doubt or uncertainty is 
expressed, although the former can only be used in sit- 
uations in which " contingency and futurity " are com- 
bined. Thus a gentleman, giving an order to his tailor, 
may say, " Make me a coat of a certain description ; if it 
fit me well I will give you another order ; " because the 



$0 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

w fit " alluded to is a thing which the future has to deter- 
mine. But when the coat is made and brought home, 
he cannot say, " If this cloth be good I will give you 
another order," for the quality of the cloth is already 
determined ; the future w^ill not alter it. It may be 
good, it may be bad ; but whatever it may be, it already 
is; therefore, as contingency only is implied, without 
futurity, it must be rendered in the indicative mood — 
" If this cloth is good," &c. "We may with propriety 
say, " If the book be sent in time, I shall be able to read 
it to-night," because the sending of the book is an event 
which the future must produce ; but we must not say, 
" If this book be sent for me, it is a mistake," because 
here the act alluded to is already performed — the book 
has come. I think it very likely that people have been 
beguiled into this error by the prefix of the conjunction, 
forgetting that conjunctions may be used with the indic- 
ative as well as with the subjunctive mood. 

X.ZY 

Some people use the imperfect tense of the verb " to 
go," instead of the past participle, and say, "I should 
have went" instead of " I should have gone" This is 
not a very common error, but it is a very great one ; and 
I should not have thought it could come within the range 
of the class far which this book is written, had I not 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 81 

noticed it in the conversation of quite well educated per 
sons. One might as well say, " I should have was at 
the theatre last night," instead of " I should have been 
at the theatre," &c, as say, " I should have went" instead 
of " I should have gone" 

xv. 

Others there are who invert this error, and use the 
past participle of the verb " to do " instead of a tense of 
the verb ; saying, " I dom" instead of " I did" But 
all such expressions as, " We done this," " You done 
that," " They done something else," &c, are sure indi- 
cations that those who allow these and similar phrases 
to fall from their lips are quite ignorant in regard to the 
proper use of their mother tongue. " I did it," or " I 
have done it," is a phrase correct in its formation, its 
application being, of course, dependent on other circum- 
stances. 

XVI. 

There are speakers who are too refined to use the past 
(or perfect) participle of the verbs " to drink," " to run," 
u to begin," &c, and substitute the imperfect tense, as in 
the verb "to go. Thus, instead of saying, "I have 
drunk," " He has run," " They have begun," they say, " I 
have drank" " He has ran" " They have began" &c. 
These are minor errors, I admit ; still, nice ears detect 
6 



82 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

them, and all persons of good taste will condemn them 
as positively bad. 

XVII. 

I trust it is unnecessary to warn any of my readers 
against adopting the flagrant vulgarity of saying " don't 
ought," and " hadn't ought," instead of " ought not' 1 
But many persons, who would never use either of these 
vulgarisms directly, are often betrayed into similar 
blunders in conversation. One says, " I think he ought 
to do it'; " another adds, " I think he had." Had what ? 
Had ought ! It is also incorrect to employ no for not 
in such phrases as, " If it is true or no, (not ;) " " Is it 
so or no, (not ?) " 

XVIII. 

Many people have an vdd way of saying, "I expect," 
when they! only .mean "I. think,'' or "I conclude;" as, 
a I expect my brother is gone to Richmond to-day ; " 
" I expect those books were sent to Paris last year." 
This is wrong. Expect can relate only to future time, 
and must be_ followed by a future tense, or a verb in the 
infinitive mood ; as, " I expect my brother will go to 
Richmond to-day ; " "I expect to Jind those books were 
sent to Paris last year." Here the introduction of a 
future tense, or of a verb in. the infinitive mood, rectifies 
the grammar without altering the sense ; but this por- 



A WORD TO Til K WISE/ 83 

tion of the sentence must not be omitted in speaking or 
writing, as no such ellipsis is allowable. This verb is 
often improperly used, in the passive voice, for required 
uy obliged; as, " Soldiers are expected to obey crders." 

XIX. 

The majority of speakers use the imperfect tense and 
the perfect tense together, in such sentences as the fol- 
lowing, — "I intended to have called on him last night ; " 
"I meant to have purchased one yesterday, " — or a 
pluperfect tense and a perfect tense together I have 
sometimes heard, as, "You should have written to have 
told her." These expressions are illogical, because, as 
the intention to perform an act must be prior to the act 
contemplated, the act itself cannot with propriety be 
expressed by a tense indicating a period of time previous 
to the intention. The three sentences should be cor- 
rected thus, placing the second verb in the infinitive 
mood : " I intended to call on him last night ; " " I meant 
to purchase one yesterday ; " " You should have written 
to tell her." 

But the imperfect tense and the perfect tense are to 
be combined in such sentences, as the following, " I re- 
marked that they appeared to have undergone great 
fatigue ; " because here the act of " undergoing fatigue " 
must have taken place previous to the period at which 



84 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

you had the opportunity of remarking its effect on their 
appearance ; the sentence, therefore, is both grammatical 
and logical. 

XX. 

Another strange perversion of grammatical propriety 
is to be heard occasionally in the adoption of the present 
tense of the verb " to have," most probably instead of 
the past participle, but in situations in which the par- 
ticiple itself would be a redundance ; such as, " If I had 
have known ; " "If he had have come according to ap- 
pointment ; " " If you had have sent me that intelligence," 
&c. Of what utility is the word "have" in the sen- 
tence ? What office does it perform ? If it stands in 
place of any other word, that other word would still be an 
encumbrance ; but, the sentence being complete without 
it, it becomes an illiterate superfluity. " If I had have 
known that you would have been there before me, I 
would have written to you to have waited till I had have 
come." What a construction from the lips of an edu- 
cated person! and yet we do sometimes hear this slip- 
slop uttered by people who are supposed to "speak 
French and Italian well" and who enjoy the reputation 
of being " accomplished" ! Many persons, who consider 
themselves well educated, often commit a similar error 
by using the participle got in connection with the verb 
to have ; as, " I have got the book in my library ; " " Who 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 85 

has got a pencil?" "I have got one." This form of 
speech should never be used to express possession, as 
the verb to have conveys that idea, in these and similar 
phrases. 

XXI. 

It is amusing to observe the broad line of demar* 
cation between vulgar bad grammar and genteel bad 
grammar, which characterizes the violation of almost 
every rule of syntax. The vulgar speaker uses ad- 
jectives instead of adverbs, and says, "This letter is 
written shocking ;" the genteel speaker uses adverbs 
instead of adjectives, and says, " This writing looks shock- 
ingly" The perpetrators of the latter offence may fancy 
they can shield themselves behind the grammatical law 
which compels the employment of an adverb, not an 
adjective, to qualify a verb, and behind the first rule of 
syntax, which says that "a verb must agree with its' 
nominative." But which is the nominative in the ex- 
pression alluded to ? Which performs the act of looking 
— the writing or the speaker ? To say that a thing looks 
when we look at it, is an idiom peculiar to our language^ 
and some idioms are not reducible to rules ; they are con - 
ventional terms, which pass current, like bank notes, for 
the coin they represent, but must not be submitted to the 
test of grammatical alchemy It is improper, therefore, 
to say, " The queen looks beautifully ; " " The flowery 



86 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

smell sweetly;" "This writing looks shockingly;" because 
it is the speaker that performs the act of looking, smell- 
ing, &c, not the noun looked at; and though, by an 
idiomatical construction necessary to avoid circumlocu- 
tion, the sentence imputes the act to the thing beheld, the 
qualifying word must express the quality of the thing 
spoken of, adjectively, instead of qualifying the act of the 
nominative understood, adverbially. What an adjective 
is to a noun, an adverb is to a verb ; an adjective ex- 
presses the quality of a thing, and an adverb the manner 
of an action. Consider what it is you wish to express, — 
the quality of a thing, or the manner of an action, — and 
use an adjective or adverb accordingly. But beware 
that you discriminate justly ; for though you cannot say, 
" The queen looked majestically in her robes," because 
here the act of looking is performed by the spectator, 
frho looks at her, you can and must say, " The queen 
looked graciously on the petitioner," " The queen looked 
mercifully on his prayer," because here the act of looking 
is performed by the queen. You cannot say, "These 
flowers smell sweetly," because it is you that smell, and 
not the flowers ; but you can say, " These flowers per- 
fume the air deliciously," because it is they which impart 
the fragrance, not you. You cannot say, " This dress 
looks badly," because it is you that look, not the dress ; 
iul you can say, " This dress jits badly," because it is 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 87 

the dress that performs the act of fitting either well 01 
ill. There is another class of errors arising from the 
use of the adverbial form of certain words, instead of the 
adjective form ; as, he spoke loudly ', more loudly, or 
most loudly, for loud, louder, or loudest The boy reads 
slowly, more slowly, or most slowly, for slow, slower, or 
slowest Not a few teachers fall into this error, perhaps 
because they are more familiar with the general rule 
that most adverbs end in ly, than with the practice of 
good speakers and writers. There are some peculiar 
idioms which it would be better to avoid altogether, if 
possible; but if you feel compelled to use them, take 
them as they are, — you cannot prune and refine them 
by the rules of syntax, and to attempt to do so shows 
ignorance as well as affectation. 

XXII. 

There is a mistake often committed in the use of the 
adverbs of place, hence, thence, whence. People are apt 
to say, " He will go from thence to-morrow," &c. The 
preposition " from " is included in these adverbs ; there- 
fore it becomes tautology in sense when prefixed to them, 

XXIII. 

"Equally as well" is a very common expression, and 
a very incorrect one ; the adverb of comparison, " as," 



88 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

has no right in the sentence. " Equally well," " equally 
high," " equally dear," should be the construction ; and 
if a complement be necessary in the phrase, it should be 
preceded by the preposition " with ; " as, " The wall was 
equally high with the former one ; " " The goods at 
Smith's are equally dear with those sold at the shop 
next door," &c. " Equally the same " is tautology. 

XXIV. 

"Whether," sometimes an adverb, sometimes aeon- 
junction, is a word that plainly indicates a choice of 
things, (of course I cannot be supposed to mean & free- 
dom of choice ;) it is highly improper, therefore, to place 
it, as many do, at the head of each part of a sentence ; as, 
" I have not yet made up my mind whether I shall go 
to France, or whether I shall remain in England." The 
conjunction should not be repeated, as it is evident the 
alternative is expressed only in the combination of the 
two parts of the sentence, not in either of them taken 
separately ; and the phrase should stand thus : " I have 
not yet made up my mind whether I shall go to France 
or remain in England." 

XXY. 

There is an awkwardness prevalent amongst all classes 
cf society in such sentences as the following : " He quit- 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 89 

ted his horse, and got on to a stage coach ; " " He jumped 
on to the floor ; " " She laid it on to a dish ; " "1 threw it 
on to the fire." Why use two prepositions where one 
would be quite as explicit, and far more elegant ? No- 
body, at the present day, would think of saying, " He 
came to London for to go to the exhibition," because 
the preposition " for " would be an awkward superfluity. 
So is " to " in the examples given ; in each of which 
there is an unwieldiness of construction which reminds 
one of the process of gluing, or fastening, one thing " on 
to " another. Expunge the redundant preposition, and 
be assured, gentle reader, the sentence will still be found 
"an elegant sufficiency." There are some situations, 
however, in which the two prepositions may with pro- 
priety be employed, though they are never indispensable ; 
as, " I accompanied such a one to Islington, and then 
walked on to Kingsland." But here two motions are 
implied — the walking onward, and the reaching of a cer- 
tain point. More might be said to illustrate the dis- 
tinction, but we believe it will not be deemed necessary 

XXVI. 

There seems to be a natural tendency to deal in a 
redundance of adverbs. Many people talk of " contin- 
uing on," " returning back," " ascending up," " descending 
down" " advancing forward" " retreating back" &c. I 



90 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

should be glad to be informed in what other direction it 
would be possible to continue, return, ascend, &c. 

XXVII. 

It is most illiterate to put the preposition of after the 
adverb off; as, " The satin measured twelve yards before 

a (jfiftAi ^ cut tn * s pi ece °ff °f & 5 " " The fruit was gathered off 
fci^y of that tree." Many of my readers will consider such a 
' ' remark quite unnecessary in this volume; but many 
others, who ought to know better, must stand self-con- 
demned on reading it. 

XXVIII. 

There is a false taste extant for the preposition l on," 
instead of " of," in songs, poetry, and many other sit- 
uations in which there is still less excuse for borrowing 
the poetic license ; such as, " Wilt thou think on me, 
love ? " " I will think on thee, love ; " " Then think on the 
friend who once welcomed it too," &c, &c. But this is 
an error chiefly to be met with among poetasters and 
melo -dramatic speakers. 

XXIX. 

Some people add a superfluous preposition at the end 
of a sentence — "More than you think for." This, 
however, is an awkwardness rarely committed by per- 
sons of decent education. 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 91 



XXX. 



That "prepositions govern the objective case" is a 
golden rule of grammar ; and if it were only well remem- 
bered, it would effectually correct that mistake of sub- 
stituting the nominative for the objective pronoun, which 
has been complained of in the preceding pages. In 
using a relative pronoun in the objective case, it is more 
elegant to put the preposition before than after it ; thus, 
" To whom was the order given ? " instead of, " Whom 
was the order given to ? " Indeed, if this practice were 
to be invariably adopted, it would obviate the possibility 
of confounding the nominative with the objective case, 
because no man would ever find himself able to utter 
such a sentence as, " To who was this proposal made ? " 
though he might very unconsciously say, " Who was this 
proposal made to?" and the error would be equally 
flagrant in both instances 

XXXI. 

There is a great inaccuracy connected with the use 
of the disjunctive conjunctions or and no?\ which seem to 
be either not clearly understood, or treated with undue 
contempt by persons who speak in the following manner : 
" Henry or John are to go there to-night ; " " His son or 
his nephew have since put in their claim ; " " Neither one 



92 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

nor the other have the least chance of success." The 
conjunctions disjunctive "or" and "nor" separate the 
objects in sense, as the conjunction copulative unites 
them ; and as, by the use of the former, the things stand 
forth separately and singly to the comprehension, the 
verb or pronoun must be rendered in the singular num* 
ber also ; as, " Henry or John is to go there to-night ; " 
" His son or his nephew has since put in his claim," &c. 
If you reflect on the sentence, you will perceive that 
only one is to do the act ; therefore only one can be the 
nominative to the verb. 

XXXII. 

Many people improperly substitute the disjunctive 
" but " for the comparative " than ; " as, " The mind no 
sooner entertains any proposition, but it presently hastens 
to some hypothesis to bottom it on." — Locke. "No 
other resource but this was allowed him." " My beha- 
vior has, I fear, been the death of a man who had no 
other fault but that of loving me too much." — Spectator. 

XXXIII. 

Sometimes a relative pronoun is used instead of a 
conjunction, in such sentences as the following-: " I don't 
know but what I shall go to Brighton to-morrow," in- 
stead of, " I don't know but that," &c. 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 



XXXIV. 



Sometimes the disjunctive but is substituted for the 
conjunction that ; as, " I have no doubt but he will be 
here to-night." Sometimes for the conjunction if; as, 
* I shouldn't wonder but that was the case." And some- 
times two conjunctions are used instead of one ; as, " If 
that I have offended him ; " " After that he had seen the 
parties ; " " So as that he could do it," &c. The second 
conjunction in these examples is superfluous. All this 
is very awkward indeed; it ought to be avoided, and 
might be shunned by a little attention. The conjunction 
if is often omitted ; as, " He seldom ever does it," for 
" He seldom, if ever, does it." 



CHAPTER II 



It is obsolete now to use the article an before words 
beginning with long u or with eu ; and it has become 
more elegant, in modern style, to say, " a university," 
" a useful article," " a European," " a euphonious com- 
bination of sentences," &c, &c. It is also proper to say 
" such a one," not " such an one." 



0± A WORD TO THE WISE. 



II. 



Some people pronounce the plural of handkerchief, 
scarf, dwarf, handherchieves, scarves, dwarves. This is 
an error, as these words, and perhaps a few others, are 
exceptions to the rule laid down, that nouns ending in/ 
sm&fe shall change their terminations into ves to form 
the plural, and consequently should be pronounced with- 
out the sound of v in the last syllable. 

in. 

There is an illiterate mode of pronouncing the adverb 
too, which is that of contracting it into the sound of the 
preposition to ; thus, " I think I paid to much for this 
gun ; " " This line is to long by half." The adverb too 
should be pronounced like the numeral adjective two, 
and have the same full, distinct sound in delivery ; as, " I 
think I paid too (two) much for this gun ; " " This line 
is too (two) long by half." 

IV. 

One does not expect to hear such words as " neces- 
si'ated," " preventative," &c, from people who profess to 
be educated ; but one does hear them, nevertheless, and 
many others of the same genus, of which the following 
Ust is a specimen, not a collection. 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 95 

Febuary " and " Febbiwerry," instead of February. 

" Seckaterry " instead of secretary. 

" Gover'munt " " government. 

" Sentimunt " " sentiment. 

" Ssv ? m ; " seven. 

" Evenin' " . " evening. 

The vulgar practice of omitting to sound a final con- 
sonant after another consonant is so common, that one 
would think the organs of speech, in most persons, were 
incapable of uttering the double sound. 

Some persons say chapped, according to the common 
orthography, instead of chopped, according to good 



usage. 



And we have even heard " continental " pronounced 
continential, though upon what authority we know not. 
Besides these, a multitude of others might be quoted, 
which we consider too familiar to particularize, and " too 
numerous to mention.'' 

v. 

There is an old jest on record of a person hearing 
mother pronounce the word curiosity " curosity" and 
remarking to a bystander, "That man murders the Eng- 
lish language." "Nay," replies the person addressed, 
(i he only knocks an eye (i) out." And I am invariably 
reminded of this old jest whenever I hear such pronun- 



96 A WORD TO THE WISE 

ciations as the following : " Lat'n " for Latin ; " sat'n n 
for satin ; and Britain pronounced so as to rhyme with 
written, — of which a few examples will be given on a 
subsequent page, not with the wild hope of comprising 
in so short a space all the perversions of prosody which 
are constantly taking place, but simply with the intention 
of reminding careless speakers of some general principles 
which they seem to have forgotten, and of the vast ac- 
cumulation of error they may engraft upon themselves 
by a lazy adherence to the custom of the crowd. Before, 
however, proceeding to the words in question, it may be 
satisfactory to our readers to recall to their memory the 
observations of Lindley Murray on the subject. He 
says, " There is scarcely any thing which more distin- 
guishes a person of poor education from a person of a 
good one, than the pronunciation of the unaccented vow- 
els. When vowels are under the accent, the best speakers, 
and the lowest of the people, with very few exceptions, 
pronounce them in the same manner ; but the wzaccent- 
ed vowels in the mouths of the former have a distinct, 
open, and specific sound, while the latter often totally 
sink them, or change them into some other sound.' 3 
The words that have chiefly struck me are the following, 
in which not only the i but some of the other vowels 
are submitted to the mutilating process, or, as I har^ 
heard it pronounced, mutulating. 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 



97 



Brit'n instead of Britain. 



Lat'n " 


Latin. 


Sat'n 


satin. 


Patt'n " 


patten. 


Curt'n " 


curtain. 


Cert'n " 


certain. 


Bridle " 


bridal. 


Idle 


idol. 


Meddle " 


medal. 


Moddle " 


model. 


Mentle " 


mental. 


Mortle " 


mortal. 


Fatle 


fatal. 


Gravle " 


graveL 


Travle " 


travel. 


Sudd'n 


sudden. 


Infidle 


infidel. 


Scroop'-lous " 


sc?*u-pu-lous 



And a long train of et cetera, of which the above 
examples do not furnish a tithe. 

It is a very common error, in pronouncing a large 
class of words, to omit the sound of h when it follows w. 
WJi is not w merely. All well-educated people say 
whisper ; not wisper ; whip, not wip ; whale, not wail; 
wharf, not war/; whey, not way ; ivheel, not weal ; whist, 
not wist ; wheat, not weat ; white, not wite. 
7 



98 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

Besides omitting to sound some letters, there are many 
persons who habitually sound others which should be 
omitted, in certain words ; as the e in garden and often, 
and the i in evil and devil. This i» a decided error 
These words should always be pronounced gard'n, offn 
ev'l, dev'l, &c. 

In addition to the mispronunciation of the foregoing 
classes of words, one often hears the double o, in such 
words as root and spoon, &c, pronounced like the double 
o in foot. Oo is sometimes sounded in this way; as in 
wood, stood, hood; but oftener as in boot, hoot, pool, rood, 
noon, soon, &c. 

VI. 

It is affected, and contrary to authority, to deprive 
the s of its sharp hissing sound in the words precise, 
desolate, design, and their derivatives. 

VII. 

There is one peculiarity which we feel bound to 
notice, because it has infected English speakers — that 
of corrupting the e and the i into the sound of a or u, in 
the words ability, humility, charity, &c. ; for how often 
is the ear wrung by such barbarisms as hum'ilutty, civ- 
Uutty, qu&laty, quantaty, crualty, chavaty, humanely, bar- 
baraty, hovruble, temcble, and so on, ad infinitum! — 
an uncouth practice, to which nothing is comparable, 
except pronouncing yalla for yellow. 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 99 



VIII. 



There is in some quarters a bad mode prevalent of 
pronouncing the plural of such words as face, place, &c., 
fazes, plazes, whilst the plural of price seems every 
where subject to the same strange mutation. The words 
should be faces, places, prices, without any softening of 
the c into z. There is, too, an ugly fashion of pronoun- 
cing the ng, when terminating a word or syllable, as we 
pronounce the same combination of letters in the word 
finger, and making such words as "singer," "ringer," 
&c, rhyme with linger. Sometimes the double o is 
elongated into the sound which we give to that diphthong 
in " room," " fool," " moon," &c., which has a very bad 
effect in such words as booh, look, nook, took, &c. ; and 
sometimes it is contracted into the sound of short u, 
making " foot," and some other words, rhyme with but, 

IX. 

And having remarked on the lingering pronunciation, 
it is but fair to notice a defect, the reverse of this, namely, 
that of omitting the final g in such words as saying, go- 
ing, shilling, &c, and pronouncing them " sayin," " goin," 
" slrillin." This is so common an error that it generally 
escapes notice, but is a greater blemish, where we have 
a right to look for perfection, than the peculiarities of 



lOO ^ A. WORD TO THE WISE, 

the provinces in those who reside there. Besides this 
" sin of omission," there is the " sin of commission," 
which consists in adding letters where they do not 
belong ; &s,acrost for across ; attackt for attack ; attack- 
ted for attached ; heighth for height 



It is also a common fault to add a gratuitous r to words 
ending with a vowel, such as Annar, Emmar, Louisar, 
Juliar, and to make draw, laic, saw, flaw, with all others 
of the same class, rhyme with war ; to omit the r in such 
words as corh, fork, curtain, morsel, &c. ; in the word 
perhaps, when they conscientiously pronounce the h; 
and sometimes in Paris ; or to convert it into the sound 
of a y when it comes between two vowels, as in the 
name Harriet, and in the words superior, interior, &c, 
frequently pronounced Aah-yet, su-pe-yor, in-te-yor, &c. 
Another fault quite common is the omission of the h in 
speaking such words as shriek, shred, shrink, shrug ^ 
shrill, shrub, shrewd, &c. 

XI. 

A very vulgar mispronunciation of such words a3 
road, coach, and boast, may often be heard from the lips 
of persons considered well educated. The regular sound 
of the diphthong oa, in this class of words, is that of long 



a word to prwis%v\ 101 

o, and never that offensivejteuhtfral sound whicr cannot 
be perfectly represented lis agy syin&ol in the English 
language. ll "JO \ 

Dr. Oliver Wendell Ho|me^4 ias very fpropei^/" f i^-A 
i juled this rustic pronunciation ffrthe following lines/-'- • 

" Learning condemns beyond the reach of hope 
The careless lips that .speaftNif^^, for soap \ ,-.^ ' j 

Her edict exiles from her fair^odj^e . j 

The clownish voice -that utters r^^d^lr^r^aji ; 
Less stern to him who calls his co&fcv^, fejyt/ Q 
And steers his boat, believing it a boati^-^ ' 
She pardoned one, ou^ classic, city's boast^'*"*^*" 
Who said, at Cambridge, most instead of most, 
But knit her brows, and stamp ccfc^aer angry foot 
To hear a Teacher call a root a rool^' 



XII. 

There is a vicious mode of amalgamating the final s 
of a word when preceded and followed by a vowel, 
with the first letter of the next word, if that letter 
happens to be a y, in such a manner as to produce the 
sound of sh or zh, or of su in usual; as, "A nishe 
young man ; " " What mahezh you laugh ? " " If he 
offendzh you, don't speak to him ; " "Azh you please ; " 
" Not jash yet ; " " We always passh your house in 
going to call on Missh Yates ; " and so on through all 
the possibilities of such a combination. This is decided, 
unmitigated cockneyism, having its parallel in nothing 



102 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

except the broken English of the sons of Abraham ; and 
to adopt it in conversation is certainly "not speaking 
like a Christian." The effect of this pronunciation on 
the ear is as though the mouth of the speaker were filled 
with froth, which impedes the utterance, and gives the 
semblance of a defect where nature had kindly intended 
perfection ; but the radical cause of this, and of many 
other mispronunciations, is the carelessness, sometimes 
the ignorance, of teachers, who permit children to read 
and speak in a slovenly manner, without opening their 
teeth, or taking any pains to acquire a distinct articulation. 

XIII. 

Whilst we are on the 'subject of prosody, we must 
not omit to mention the vicious pronunciation occasion- 
ally given to the words new, due, Tuesday, stupid, and 
a few others, sometimes corrupted into noo, doo, Toos- 
day, stoopid, &c, by way of refinement, perhaps, for lips 
which are too delicate to utter the clear, broad, English 
u, which is never to be sounded like oo in words like the 
following : supreme, consume, intuitive, latitude, stupefy, 
duty, tune, tube, suit Never say " a soot of clothes," &c. 
Avoid giving the sound of u to e, in such words as acci- 
dent, argument, element, implement, innocent. Nor has 
a the sound of u in elegant infant, and similar worda 



A WOKi> TO THE WISE. 103 

XIV. 

Never say " Cut it in half," for this you cannot do 

unless you could annihilate one half. You may " cut it 

in two," or " cut it in halves," or " cut it through/' or 

" divide it," but no human ability will enable you to cut 

it in half. 

xv. 

Never speak of "lots" of things. Some young men 
allow themselves a diffusive license of speech, and of 
quotation, which has introduced many words into col- 
loquial style that do not at all tend to improve or dig- 
nify the language, and which, when heard from ladies' 
lips, become absolute vulgarisms. A young man may 
talk recklessly of " lots of bargains," " lots of money," 
" lots of fellows," " lots of fun," &c, but a lady may not. 
Man may indulge in any latitude of expression within 
the bounds of sense and decorum, but woman has a nar- 
rower range — even her mirth must be subjected to 
the rules of good taste. It may be naive, but must 
never be grotesque. It is not that we would have prim- 
ness in the sex, but we would have refinement. Women 
are the purer and the more ornamental part of life, and 
when they degenerate, the Poetry of Life is gone. 



104 A WORD TO THE WISE. 



XVI. 



" Loads " is a word quite as objectionable as " lots,'* 
unless it can be reduced to a load of something, sucli as 
a ship-load, a ivac/oii-load, a car-load, a horse-load, &c. 
We often hear such expressions as "loads of shops," 
" loads of authors," " loads of compliments ; " but as 
shops, authors, compliments, are things not usually piled 
up into loads, either for ships or horses, we cannot dis- 
cover the propriety of the application. 

XVII. 

Some people, guiltless of those absurdities, commit a 
great error in the use of the word quantity, applying it 
to things of number ; as, " a quantity of friends," " a 
quantity of ships," " a quantity of houses," &c. Quan- 
tity can be applied only where bulk is indicated, as, " a 
quantity of land," " a quantity of timber ; " but we 
cannot say, " a quantity of fields," " a quantity of trees," 
because trees and fields are speciSc individualities. We 
may, indeed, apply it where individualities are taken in 
the gross, without reference to their kinds ; as, " a quan- 
tity of luggage," " a quantity of furniture ; " but we 
cannot say " a quantity of boxes," " a quantity of chairs 
and tables," for the same reason which is given in the 
former instances. We may also apply the term quan- 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 105 

tity to those things of number which are too minute to 
be taken separately; as, "a quantity of beans," "a 
quantity of oats," &c.. &c. 

XVIII. 

Avoid favorite words and phrases. They betray a 
poverty of language or of imagination not creditable to a 
cultivated intellect. Some people are so unfortunate as 
to find all things vulgar that come " betwixt the wind 
and their nobility ; " others find them disgusting. Some 
are always anticipating, others are always appreciating. 
Multitudes are aristocratic in all their relations, other 
multitudes are no less distingues. These two words are 
chiefly patronized by those whose pretensions in such 
respects are the most questionable. To some timid 
spirits, born under malignant influences no doubt, most 
things present an aivful appearance, even though they 
come in shapes so insignificant as a cold day or an ach- 
ing finger. But, thanks to that happy diversity of 
Nature which throws light as well as shadow into the 
human character, there are minds of brighter vision and 
more cheerful temperament, who behold all things splen- 
did, magnificent, down to a cup of small beer, or a half- 
penny orange. Some people have a grandiloquent force 
of expression, thereby imparting a tremendous or thun- 
dering character even to little things. They seem to 



106 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

have at command a collection of pet words and phrases, 
and to apply them to almost every body and thing ; as, 
charming, or horrid, or awful, or grand, or beautiful or 
splendid, or sic eet pretty, or a perfect love. This is truly 
carrying their conceptions into the sublime — sometimes 
a step beyond. 

We have, however, no intention of particularizing all 
the " pet " phrases which salute the ear ; but the enumer- 
ation of a few of them may make the candid culprit 
smile, and avoid those trifling absurdities for the future. 



We would, under favor, suggest to the reader the 
advantage of not relying too confidently on knowledge 
acquired by habit and example alone. There are many 
words in constant use which are perverted from their 
original meanings ; and if we were to dip into some 
standard dictionary frequently, search out the true mean- 
ings of words with which we have fancied ourselves 
acquainted, and convict ourselves of all the errors we 
have been committing in following the crowd, our sur- 
prise, perhaps, would equal that of Moliere's Bourgeon 
Gentilhomme when he discovered that he had been 
talking prose for forty years. 

The words feasible, ostensible, obnoxious, apparent, 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 107 

*btudn y refrain, domesticated, and centre are expressions 
which, nine times out of ten, are misapplied, besides 
many others whose propriety is never questioned, so 
firmly has custom riveted the bonds of ignorance. 

In closing this treatise, the writer begs leave to 
say that the remarks offered are intended only as 
" Hints," which those who desire perfection may easily 
improve, by a little exercise of the understanding, and a 
reference to more extensive sources, into a competent 
knowledge of their own tongue ; also as warnings to the 
careless, that their lapses do not pass so unobserved as 
they are in the habit of supposing. 

Though many of the syntactical errors herein men- 
tioned are to be found in the works of some of our best 
writers, they are errors nevertheless, and stand as blem- 
ishes upon the productions of their genius, like unsightly 
excrescences upon a lovely skin. Genius is above- 
grammar, and this conviction may inspire in some bo- 
soms an undue contempt for the latter. But grammar is 
a constituent part of a good education, and a neglect of it 
might argue a want of education, which would, perhaps, 
be mortifying. It is an old axiom that " civility costs 
nothing ; " and surely grammatical purity need not cost 
much to people disposed to pay a little attention to it, 
and who have received a respectable education already 



108 A WORD TO THE WISE. 

It adds a grace to eloquence, and raises the standard of 
language where eloquence is not. 

A handsome man or handsome woman is not improved 
by a shabby or slatternly attire ; so the best abilities are 
shown to a disadvantage through a style marked by 
illiterate expressions and pronunciations. 



PAET IV. 



MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

IN SPEAKING AND WRITING 

CORRECTED. 



1. Have you learned French yet? Yes, a learned 
Frenchman taught me both to read it and to speak it. 
Pronounce learned in two syllables when used as an 
adjective, but in one when it is a verb. 

2. The business would suit any one who enjoys bad 
health ; say, any one in a delicate state of health, or 
whose health is feeble. 

3. " We have no corporeal punishment here," said a 
schoolmaster. Corporeal is opposed to spiritual ; say, 
corporal punishment. Corporeal means having a body. 
The Almighty is not a coporeal being, but a Spirit. 

4. That was a notable circumstance ; pronounce the 
first syllable of notable as no in notion. Mrs. Johnson 
is a notable housewife; that is to say, careful; pro- 
nounce the first syllable of notable as not in Nottingham. 

(109) 



110 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

5. He put an advertisement in the " Times ; " pro 
nounce this word with the accent * on ver, and not on 
tise, viz., advertisement. 

6. He rose up and left the room ; leave out up. 

7. You have sown this seam very badly ; say, sewed 
:his seam, and pronounce it so as to rhyme with load, 
not with mewed. 

8. Mr. Dupont learnt me French ; say, taught. The 
instructor teaches ; the pupil learns. 

9. John and Henry both read well, but John is the 
best reader ; say, the better reader, as best can be said 
only when three or more persons or objects are com- 
pared. 

10. The two first pupils I had; say, the first two. 
All such expressions as three first lines, four last verses, 
&c, should be corrected as above, viz., first three lines, 
last four verses, &c. 

11. He has mistook his true interest ; say, mistaken. 

1 2. Have you lit the lamp, Mary ? say, lighted. 

13. The doctor has not yet came ; say, has not yet 
come. 

14. I have always gave him good advice ; say given. 

* Accent — marked thus ' — is the more forcible utterance of a 
Oarticular syllable of a word, by which that syllable is distinguished 
from the others. The accented syllable of a word serves as a kind 
of resting-place, or support, for the voice, which passes over the an- 
accented syllables with more rapidity, and with a less distinct utter- 
ance. 



IN SPEAKING AND WHITING CORRECTED. Ill 

15. "To be" is an aiixili dry verb ; pronounce aux- 
iliary in four syllables, as if it were written auxilyary. 

16. Celery is a pleasant edible; pronounce celery as 
it is written, and not salary. 

17. Are you at leisure? pronounce lei in leisure like 
ec, as leezhur, and ?zo£ so as to rhyme with measure. 

18. You have soon forgot my kindness; say, /or* 
gotten. 

19. Have you seen the il/i'ss Browns lately? or, 
Have you seen the Misses Brown lately ? Some of the 
best speakers and writers in our language prefer the first 
mode of pluralizing these phrases, while others adhere 
to the second method. In favor of the former, it is said 
that the title and name may be considered as a complex 
whole, and, of course, the last word will take the sign 
of the plural ; and also that the other mode is stiff and 
formal, and leads to inconsistency, for we cannot say 
" The Mrses Brown." On the other hand, it is urged, 
that as the best usage is uniformly in favor of pluralizing 
the titles j instead of the names of men, as "The Messrs, 
Harper," &c, analogy favors saying, " The Misses 
Brown," &c. Although, in forming the plurals cf 
proper names to which titles are prefixed, usage is still 
unsettled, yet a decided majority of our best writers 
pluialize the title, and not the name* 

20. He keeps his coach ; say, his carriage. 



112 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

21. John is my oldest brother; say, eldest. Elder 
and eldest are applied to persons, and, according to the 
best usage, only in comparing members of the same 
family; thus, " An elder brother ; " "the eldest sister." 
But older and oldest are applied to persons of different 
families, and also to things. Hence we say, " Franklin 
was elder than Washington;" "Harvard is the oldest 
college in the United States." 

22. It was an interesting discourse ; pronounce in- 
teresting, with the accent on the first syllable, never on 
the third ; thus, interesting. 

23. He is much interested in his profession ; pro- 
nounce interested, according to directions in number 22. 

24. The pupils have a recess every half day. All 
good authorities accent recess 1 on the second syllable ; 
yet many persons, who ought to know better, continue 
to pronounce this word with the accent on the first. 

25. He writes as the best authors would, have wrote, 
had they writ on the same subject; say, would have 
written — had they written. 

26. I prefer the yolk of an egg to the white; say, 
ydk, and sound the /. 

27. He is now very decrepid ; say, decrepit. 

28. I am very fond of sparrowgrass ; say, aspar'agus, 
and pronounce it with the accent on par. 

29. You are \ery mischievous ; pronounce mis'chie- 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 113 

vous with the accent on mis, and not on chie, and do 
not say mischievyous. 

30. It was very acceptable; pronounce accept' able 
with the accent on cept, and not on ac, as we so often 
hear it. 

31. "No conversation be permitted in the Reading 
Room to the interruption of the company present. Nei- 
ther Smoking or Refreshments allowed." [From the 
prospectus of a "Literary and Scientific Institution."] 
Insert can after conversation, and say, neither smoking 
nor refreshments. 

32. No extras or vacations, [from the prospectus of 
a schoolmistress ;*] say, neither extras nor vacations. 

33. He is very covetous; pronounce covetous as if 
it were written covet us, and not covetchus, as is almost 
universally the case. 

34. I intend to summons him; say, summon. Sum- 
mons is a noun, and not a verb. 

35. Dearly beloved brethren ; pronounce beloved in 
three syllables when it is used as an adjective or a noun ; 
a 5, a be-lov-ed mother; Be-lov-ed, let us love one 
another; but in two, when a verb; as, she w T as much 
be-loved. 

36. He is now forsook by every one; say, forsaken. 

37. Not as I know of; say, that I know, 

8 



114 MISTAKES AND I3IPR0PKIETIES 

38. I do not wish to buy any tiling to-day ; I called 
merely to price your goods ; say, to ascertain the price 
of your goods, because price as a verb is now obsolete. 

39. They have just rose from the table ; say, risen. 

40. He is quite as good as one ; say, as good as I. 

41. Many an one has done the same ; say, many a 
one. A, and not an, is used before the long sound of u, 
that is to say, when u forms a distinct syllable of itself as 
a unit, a union, a university. It is also used before eu, 
as, a euphony ; and likewise before the word ewe, as, a 
ewe. We should also say, a youth, not an youth. 

42. Many people think so ; say, many persons, as 
people means a nation. 

43. " When our ships sail among the people of the 
Eastern islands, those people do not ask for gold. — 
6 Iron ! iron ! ' is the call." [From a work by an Eng- 
lish peer of literary celebrity.] Say, among the in- 
habitants of the Eastern Islands ; and, instead of those 
people, which is ungrammatical, say, those tribes or 
nations. 

44. Was you reading just now ? say, were you. 

45. I have not had no dinner yet ; say, I have not yet 
had any dinner, or, I have not yet had my dinner. 

46. She will never be no taller ; say, she will neve* be 
taller ', or, she will never be any taller. 

47. I see him last Monday ; say, saw Mm. 



IN SPEAKING AND WHITING CORRECTED. 115 

48. He was averse from such a proceeding; say, 
averse to. 

49. He has wore his boots three months ; say, worn* 

50. He has trod on my toes; say, trodden. 

51. Have you shook the cloth? say, shaken. 

52. I have rang several times ; say, rung. 

53. I knowed him at once ; say, kneiv. 

54. He has groived very much ; say, grown. 

55. George has fell clown stairs ; say, fallen, 

56. He has chose a very poor pattern; say, chosen, 
51, They have broke a window ; say, broken. 

58. Give me them books ; say, those books. 

59. These kind of knaves I know ; say, this kind, &c. 

60. I have not seen him this twenty years; say, for 
twenty years. 

61. The men which we saw; say, whom. 

62. The books what you have ; say, which, or that, 

63. The boy as is reading ; say, who is reading. 

64. The pond is froze ; say, frozen. 

65. He has took my slate ; say, taken. 

66. I knew it was her who called me ; say, she. 

67. It- was not him, it was me ; say, he and I. 

68. I have rode many miles to-day ; say, ridden. 

69. You cannot catch him ; pronounce catch so as to 
rhyme with match, and not ketch. 

70. Who has got my slate ? leave out got. 



116 MISTAKES A> T D IMPROPRIETIES 

71. What are you doing of? leave out of 

72. If I was rich I would buy a carriage ; say, If 1 
were. 

73. We have all within us an impetus to sin ; pro- 
nounce im'petus with the accent on im, and not on pe, a,s 
is very often the case. 

74. He may go to the antipodes for what I car^ ; 
pronounce antip'odes with the accent on tip, and let des 
rhyme with ease. It is a word of four syllables, and 
not of three, as many persons make it. 

75. Vouchsafe, a word seldom used ; but, when used, 
the first syllable should rhyme with pouch. Never say, 
vousafe. 

76. Ginger is a good stomachic; pronounce stomach' - 
ic with the accent on mach, sounding this syllable 
mak, and not mat, as is often the case. 

77. The land in those parts is very fertile ; pronounce 
fertile so that the last syllable will rhyme with pill, 
lie final, when unaccented, must be pronounced like ill, 
except in exile, senile, gentile, reconcile, and camomile, 
ir which He rhymes with mile. 

78. It is surprising the fatigue he undergoes; say, 
Hie fatigue he undergoes is surprising. 

79. Benefited ; often spelled henefitted, but incorrectly. 

80. Gather up the fragments pronounce gather so as 
to rhyme with lather, and not gether. 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 117 

81. 1 propose going to town next week ; say, purpose. 
These two words, though very different in meaning, are 
often used one for the other. To propose means to 
make an offer ; to purpose means to intend, 

82. If I am not mistaken, you are in the wrong ; say, 
If I mistake not. 

83. Direct your letters to me at Mr. Jones's ; say, 
Address your letters. 

84. Wales is a very mountainious country; say, 
moun'tainous, and place the accent on moun. 

85. Of two evils, choose the least; say, the less. 

86. Exaggerate ; pronounce, exaggerate, and do not 
sound agger, as in the word dagger, which is a very 
common mistake. 

87. He knows little or nothing of Latin ; say, little* 
if any tiling, of Latin. 

88. He keeps a chaise ; pronounce it shaze, and not 
shay. It has a regular plural, chaises. 

89. The drought lasted a long time; pronounce 
drought so as to rhyme with trout, and not drowth. 

90. The judge said there was no precedent to guide 
him in deciding this case. In pronouncing this word, — 
meaning a ride or an example, — always place the accent 
on the first syllable, viz., prec'e-dent. But pronounce 
"precedence — meaning the state of going or being before 
in rank, &c. — with the accent on the second syllable, 
viz., pre-ce'denca. 



Il8 MISTAKES AtfD IMPROPRIETIES 

91. We conversed together on the subject; leave out 
together, as it is implied in conversed, con being equiv- 
alent to with ; that is to say, We talked with each oth- 
er, &c. 

92. The affair was compromised ; pronounce eompro*- 
mised in three syllables, and place the accent on com, 
sounding mised like prized. The word has nothing to 
do with promised. The noun compromise is accented 
like compromised, and must be pronounced Jcom'pro- 
mlze, never hom-prom'is, as one often hears the ignorant 
pronounce this word. 

93. A steam engine ; pronounce engine with en as in 
pen, and not like in, and gine like gin. 

94. Numbers were massacred ; pronounce massacred 
with the accent on mas, and red like crd, as if spelled 
mas' saherd. Never pronounce it mas'sacreed. 

95. The king of Israel and the king of Judah sat 
either of them on his throne ; say, each of them. Either 
signifies the one or the other, but not both. Each relates 
to two or more objects, and signifies both of the two, or 
every one of any number taken singly. Never say, " either 
of the three," but " each, or any one of the three." 

9G. A respite was granted the convict; pronounce 
res'pite with the accent on res, and sound pite as pit. 

97. He soon returned bach; leave out bach, which is 
implied by re in returned. 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 119 

98. The horizon is the line that terminates the view ; 
pronounce hori'zon with the accent on ri, and not on lior. 

99. She has sang remarkably well; say, sung, 

100. lie had sank before assistance arrived ; say, sunk. 

101. "The elm is a beautiful tree." In pronouncing 
eln:,j never insert a distinct vowel sound before m, as 
zllum ; a vulgar pronunciation by no means uncommon. 
Observe this rule in pronouncing spasm, prism, schism 
helm, magnetism, mysticism, and other words ending in 
ism. Never say spasmn, priszmi, schiswm, helzan, &c. 

102. I found my friend better than I expected to have 
found him ; say, to find him. 

103. I intended to have written a letter yesterday; 
say, to iv rite, as however long it now is since I thought 
of writing, " to ivrite " was then present to me, and must 
still be considered as present when I bring back that 
time and the thoughts of it. 

104. His death shall be long regretted ; say, will be 
long, &c. Shall and will are often confounded ; the fol- 
lowing rule, however, may be of use to the reader 
Mere futurity is expressed by shall in the first person, 
and by will in the second and third ; the determination 
of the speaker by will in the first, and shall in the sec 
ond and third ; as, I will go to-morrow, I shall go 
to-morrow. N. B. The latter sentence simply expresses 
a future event ; the former expresses my determination. 



120 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

105. " Without the grammatical form of a word can be 
recognized at a glance, little progress can be made in 
reading the language ; " say, Unless the grammatical, 
&c. The use of without for unless is a very common 
mistake. 

106. Have you begun substraction yet? say, sub- 
traction. 

107. He claimed admission to the chief est offices ; say, 
chief. Chief right, supreme, correct, true, universal, 
'perfect, consummate, extreme, &c, imply the superlative 
degree without est or most. In language sublime or 
impassioned, however, the word perfect requires the 
superlative form to give it effect. 

108. The ship had sprang a leak; say, sprung, 

109. I had rather do it now ; say, I would rather, 

110. He was served with a subpoena ; pronounce sub- 
pce'na with the accent on pee, which you should sound like 
tea, and sound the b distinctly. Never pronounce the 
word soopee'na, 

111. I have not travelled this twenty years ; say, these 
twenty years. 

112. He is very much the gentleman; say, He is a 
very gentlemanly man. 

113. The yellow part of an egg is very nourishing; 
never pronounce yellow like tallow, which we so often 
hear. 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 12^ 

114. We are going to the zoological gardens; pro- 
nounce zoological in Jive syllables, thus, zo-o-log' i-cal, 
placing the accent on log, the third syllable, and sounding 
it like lodge. Merer make the first four letters of this 
word, zool, one syllable. 

115. He always preaches extempore; pronounce ex- 
tem'po-re in four syllables, with the accent on tne sec- 
ond, and never in three, making pore to rhyme with 
sore, 

116. Naught (nothing) and aught (anything) ; nevei 
spell these words nought and ought. There is no such 
vord as nought, and ought is a verb. 

117. Allow me to suggest; pronounce sug so as to 
hyme with mug, and gest Yikejest. Never sudjest. 

118. The Emperor of Russia is a formidable person- 
age ; pronounce formidable with the accent on for, and 
not on mid, as is often the case. 

119. Before the words heir, herb, honest, honor, hos- 
tler, hour, and their compounds, instead of the article 
a, we make use of an, as the h is not sounded ; like- 
wise before all words beginning with h that are not 
accented on the first syllable, such as heroic, historical \ 
hypothesis, &c. ; as, an heroic action, an historical worlc^ 
an hypothesis that can scarcely be allowed.* 

* The letter h is seldom mute at the beginning of a word ; but 
from the negligence of tutors and the inattention of pupils, many 



122 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

120. He was such an extravagant young man that he 
soon spent his whole patrimony ; say, so extravagant a 
young man. 

121. I saw the slough of a snake; pronounce slough 
so as to rhyme with stuff. 

122. She is quite the lady ; say, She is very lady-like 
in her demeanor. 

123. He is seldom or ever out of town ; say, seldom^ 
if ever, out of town. 

124. Death unloosed his chains ; say, loosedhis chains. 

125. It is dangerous to walk of a slippery morning; 
say, on a slippery morning. 

126. He who makes himself famous by his eloquence 
illustrates his origin, let it be never so mean ; say, ever 
so mean. 

127. His fame is acknowledged through Europe ; say, 
throughout Europe. 

128. The bank of the river is frequently overflown; 
say, overflowed. 

129. Previous to my leaving England I called on his 
lordship ; say, previously to my leaving, &c. 

130. I doubt if this will ever reach you ; say, whethe? 
this, &c. 



persons have become almost incapable of acquiring its just and full 
pronunciation. It is, therefore, incumbent on teachers to be par- 
ticularly careful to inculcate a clear and distinct utterance of this 
sound. 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING (JOfefiEc'fED. 123 

131. He was exceeding kind to me ; say, exceedingly 
kind. 

132 I lost near twenty dollars ; say, nearly. 

133> He lives in the district ; avoid pronouncing this 
word as if it were spelled deestrict. 

134. It was no use ashing him any more questions ; 
say, of no use to ask him, &c. . 

135. The people said they had no right to pay taxes ; 
say, they were under no obligation to pay, &c. 

136. I throived my box away, and never took no more 
snuff; say, I threw, &c, and never took any more snuff. 

137. She was endowed with an exquisite taste for 
music ; say, endued with, &c. 

138. I intend to stop at home; say, to stay. 

139. At this time I grew my own corn ; say, I raised, 
&c. Tins word and its derivatives seem to be gaining 
ground in this country. Good writers speak of the cot- 
Ion growing regions, the wheat growing States, and also 
of wool groivers. 

140. He was no sooner departed than they expelled 
bis officers ; say, he had no sooner, &c. 

141. He was now retired from public business ; say, 
had now retired, &c. 

142. They were embarked in a common cause ; say, 
had embarked, &c. 

143. Hostilities were now become habitual; say, had 
now become. 



124 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

144. Brutus and Aruns killed one another ; say, each 
other, 

145. Pray, sir, who may you be ? say, who are you? 

146. Their character as a warlike people is much 
degenerated ; say, has much, &c. 

147. He is gone on an errand; pronounce errand as 
it is written, and not arrant. 

148. The farmer owned jive pair of oxen; say, jive 
pairs, &c, for it is a general rule that whenever the 
adjective is necessarily plural, the noun should be made 
so too ; as, a thousand pounds, not a thousand pound. 
Hence we say tivo pairs of gloves, three pairs of shoes, 
&c, but never say, two pair, &c.* 

1 49. Be very careful in distinguishing between indite 
and indict; hey and quay ; principle and principal; 
check and cheque; marshal and martial; counsel and 
council ; counsellor and councillor ; jort andjforfe ; draft 
and draught ; place and plaice ; stake and steak ; satire 
and satyr ; stationery and stationary ; ton and tun ; levy 
and levee ; foment and ferment ; fomentation and fer- 
mentation ; petition and partition ; practice and prac- 
tise ; Francis and Frances ; dose and doze ; diverse and 

* There are several idiomatic expressions in the English language, 
which form exceptions to the foregoing rule. Good usage has sanc- 
tioned such expressions as " a two foot rule ; " " a ten foot pole; " 
"a. three mile course;" " a five dollar bill;" "a hundred head of 
cattle " 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 125 

divers ; device and devise ; wary and weary ; salary ana 
celery; radish and reddish; treble and trifle; broach 
and brooch; ingenious and ingenuous; prophesy and 
prophecy ; fondling and foundling ; lightning and light 
ening ; genus and genius ; desert and dessert; currier 
and courier ; pillow and pillar ; executer and executor ; 
suit and si^'te ; ridicule and reticule ; lineament and Zm- 
V?2eftif ; tfradE; and £rac£ ; lickerish and licorice ; statute 
and statue ; ordinance and ordnance ; lease and ZeasA ; 
recourse and resource ; straight and s£mz£ ; immerge and 
emerge; style and sftYe; compliment and complement; 
bass and 5ase ; contagious and contiguous ; eminent and 
imminent ; emigration and immigration ; emigrants and 
immigrants ; eruption and irruption ; precedent and 
'president ; relic and relict, 

150. I prefer radishes to cucumbers ; pronounce rac?- 
fc'sAes exactly as it is spelt, and not redishes, and the z* 
in the first syllable of cucumber as in yweZ, and not as if 
the word were cowcumber. 

151. Never pronounce barbarous an.d grievous, bar 
bar ions and grievious. 

152. A young man asked his father this question : 
" Which of the candidates for governor, do you think, is 
the best?" The father answered, "I should - think that 
Mr. A. was the best as a councillor in public affairs, 
and that Mr. B. was the best for executive business : " 



126 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

say, I think Mr. A. is, &c, thus avoiding the very com* 
mon blunder of using a past tense where the present is 
required. 

153. The soil on these islands is so very thin, that 
little vegetation is produced upon them beside cocoanut 
trees ; say, except, or with the exception of, Sec. 

154 He restored it back to the owner; leave out 
back. 

155. Here, there, where, are generally better than 
hither, thither, whither, with verbs of motion ; as, Come 
here, Go there. N. B. Hither, thither, and whither, 
which were formerly used, are now considered stiff and 
inelegant. 

156. As far as I am able to judge, the book is well 
written ; say, So far as, &c. 

157. It is doubtful whether he will -play fairly or no ; 
say, fairly or not. 

158. " The Pilgrim's Progress ; " pronounce progress 
with the accent on the first syllable, giving the short 
sound of o, not the long sound, as pro'gress. 

150. He is a boy of great spirit; pronounce spirit 
exactly as it is written, and never sperit. 

1 GO. The camelopard is the tallest of known animals ; 
pronounce camel! opardi with the accent on the second 
syllable. Never call it camel leopard, as is often 
heard. 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 127 

161. This store to let ; say, to be let. 

162. He ran again me; I stood again the wall; in- 
stead of again in these cases, say, against. Do it again 
the time I mentioned ; say, by the time, &c. 

163. I always act agreeable to my promise; say 
agreeably. 

164. The study of syntax should be previously to thai 
of punctuation ; say, previous. 

165. No one should incur censure for being tender of 
their reputation ; say, of his reputation. 

166. They were all drownded ; say, drowned. 

1 67. Jalap is of great service ; pronounce jalap ex- 
actly as it is written, never jollop nor jollup. 

168. He is gone on a tour ; pronounce tour so as to 
rhyme with poor, never like tower. 

169. The rain is ceased ; say, has ceased. 

170. They laid or put their heads together, and 
formed their plan ; say, They held a consultation, &c. 
Laid or put their heads together savors of slang. 

171. The chimley or chimbly wants sweeping; say, 
chimney. 

172. I was walking towards home : pronounce towarh 
so as to rhyme with boards. Never say to-wards. 

173. It is a stupenduous work ; say, stupendous. 

174. A courier is expected; pronounce cou in courier 
so as to rhyme with too. Never pronounce courier like 
currier* 



128 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

175. Let each of us mind their own business ; say, 
his own business. 

176. Is this or that the best road? say, the better 
road. 

177. Rinse your mouth; pronounce rinse as it is 
written, and never, rense. " Wrench your mouth, 9 ' said a 
fashionable dentist one day to a patient. 

178. The book is not as well printed as it ought to 
be ; say, so well printed, &c. 

179. Webster's Dictionary is an admirable work 
pronounce dictionary as if written dik-shun-a-ry ; not, as 
is too commonly the practice, dixonary. 

180. Some disaster has certainly befell him ; say, be- 
fallen. 

181. She is a pretty creature ; never pronounce pretty 
prat-te, nor pir-te, nor put-te, but pronounce it as if 
spelled prit-te. Do not pronounce creature creeter, as 
is often heard. 

182. We went to see the Monument; pronounce mon- 
ument exactly as it is written, and not, as many pronounce 
it, moniment. 

183. I am very wet, and must go and change myself; 
say, change my clothes, 

184. He has had a good education; never say edi- 
cation, which is often heard, nor edicate for educate. 

185. He is much better than me ; say, than I. 



IX SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 129 

186. You are stronger than him; say, than he* 

187. I had as lief stand ; say, I would as soon stand. 

188. He is not a whit better ; say, in no degree 
better. 

189. They are at loggerheads ; say, at variance. 

190. His character is undeniable — a very common 
expression; say, unexceptionable. 

191. Bring me the lantern ; never spell lantern, lan- 
thorn. 

192. The room is twelve foot long, and nine foot 
broad ; say, twelve feet, nine feet. 

193. He is singular, though regular in his habits, and 
also very particular ; beware of leaving out the u in 
singular, regular, and particular, which is a very com- 
mon practice. 

194. They are detained at France; say, in France. 

195. He lives at London; say, in London, and be- 
ware of pronouncing London, as many careless persons 
do, Lunnun. At should be applied to small town-!, 
nouses, home, &c. 

196. He left his books to home ; say, at home. This 
is a very common, but a very lad blunder. 

197. Such another mistake, and we shall be ruined : 
say, Another such mistake, &c. 

198. It is some distance from our house ; say, at some 
distance, &c. 

9 



130 MISTAKES AXD IMPROPRIETIES 

199. I shall call upon him ; say, on him. 

200. He is a Doctor of Medicine ; pronounce medi- 
cine in three syllables, never in two, 

201. They told me to enter in; leave out in, as it is 
implied in enter. 

202. His strength is amazing ; never say, strenth. 

203. "Mistaken souls, who dream of heaven," — this 
is the beginning of a popular hymn ; it should be, " Mis- 
taking souls," &c. Mistaken wretch, for mistaking 
wretch, is an apostrophe that occurs every where among 
our poets, particularly those of the stage ; the most 
incorrigible of all, and the most likely to fix and dissem- 
inate an error of this kind. 

204. Give me both of those books; leave out of. 

205. Whenever I try to write well, I always find I 
can do it ; leave out always, which is unnecessary. 

206. He plunged down into the stream ; leave out 
down. 

207. She is the matron ; say, may-tron, and not 
mat-ron. 

208. Give me leave to tell you ; never say leaf for 
leave. 

209. The height is considerable ; pronounce height so 
as to rhyme with tight ; never hate nor h eighth. 

210. Who has my scissors? never call scistors 
sithers. 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 131 

211. First of all I shall give you a lesson in French, 
and last of all in music ; pronounce first just as it is 
spelled ; never say fast. Leave out of all in both in- 
stances, as unnecessary. 

212. I shall have finished by the latter end of the 
week ; leave out latter, which is unnecessary. 

213 They sought him throughout the whole country \ 
leave out whole, which is implied in throughout. 

214. Iron sinks down in water; leave out down. 

215. I own that I did not come soon enough; but 
because why ? I was detained ; leave out because. 

216. Have you seen the new pantomime ? never say 
pantomine, as there is no such word. 

2^7. I cannot by no means allow it ; say, I can by no 
n**ans, &c, or, I cannot by any means, &c. 

218. He covered it over ; leave out over. 

219. I bought a new pair of shoes ; say, a pair of new 
shoes. 

220. He combined together these facts ; leave ou/: 
together. 

221. My brother called on me, and we both took a 
walk ; leave out both, which is unnecessary. 

222. The duke discharged his duty; sound the u m 
duke and duty like the word you, and carefully avoid 
saying, dook and dooty, and doo for dew. 

223 Genealogy, geography, and geometry are words* 



132 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

of Greek derivation; beware of saying, geneology, jog- 
raphy, and jomefry — a very common practice. 

224. He made out the inventory ; place the accent in 
inventory on the first syllable, in, and never on ven. 

225. He deserves chastisement ; say, chas'tiz-ment, 
jvith the accent on chas, and never on Use. 

226. He threw the rind away; never say rine. 

227. They contributed to his maintenance ; pronounce 
maintenance with the accent on main 1 , and never say 
maintain 1 ance. 

228. She wears a silk gown ; never say, gownd. 

229. Barnstable, in Massachusetts, is a maritime 
county ; pronounce the last syllable of maritime so as to 
rhyme with rim. 

230. He hovered about the enemy; pronounce hov- 
elled so as to rhyme with covered. 

231. He is a powerful ally; never place the accent 
on the first syllable in ally', as many do. 

232. " Englishmen, Frenchmen, and Mussulmen were 
opposing the Russians in the Crimea;" Mussulmen u 
here incorrectly used as the 'plural of Mussulman. We 
<ay Dutchmen, Irishmen, &c, because Dutchman and 
Irishman are respectively compounded of Dutch and 
man, Irish and man. But we cannot say Mussulmen, 
Germen, and Ottomen, because we have no such words 
'il English as mussul, ger, and otto, which can be com 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 133 

pounded with man. Therefore good writers and speak- 
ers say Mussulmans, Germans, Ottomans. 

233. He reads the "Weekly Despatch;" never spell 
the word despatch, dispatch. 

234. He said as how you was to do it; say v he said 
that you were to do it. 

235. Never say, " I acquiesce with you;" but. "Jac- 
quiesce in your proposal, in your opinion," &c. 

236. Mr. Everett's discourse at the celebration of 
Washington's birthday displayed his peculiar charac- 
teristics, both as a writer and as an orator ; pronounc 
char-ac-ter-is'tics, with the accent on the fourth syllable, 
and not on the second, as many do. In pronouncing 
char'ac-ter, place the accent on the first syllable, instead 
of the second, and thus avoid the Hibernian style of 
speaking English. 

237. In Goldsmith's " History of England " we find 
the following extraordinary sentence in one of the chap- 
ters on the reign of Queen Elizabeth : " This " (a 
communication to Mary, Queen of Scots) " they effected 
by conveying their letters to her by means of a brewei 
>.hat supplied the family with ale through a chink in the 
wall of her apartment" A queer brewer that — to 
supply his ale through a chink in the wall ! How easy 
the alteration to make the passage clear ! " This they 
effected by conveying their letters to her through a 



134 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

chink in the wall of her apartment, by means of a brewer 
that supplied the family with ale." 

238. Lavater wrote on Physiognomy; in the last 
word sound the g distinctly, as g is always pronounced 
before n when it is not in the same syllable ; as, indig- 
nity. &c. 

239. She is a very clever girl ; pronounce girl as if 
written gerl ; never say gal, which is very vulgar. 

240. He built a large granary ; pronounce granary so 
as to rhyme with tannery ; never call the word grainary. 

241. The man said he was not sick, but took medicine 
as a preventative ; say, preventive, as there is no such 
word as preven-ta-tive in the language ; and using it 
betrays gross ignorance. 

242. He was first settled in Gloucester, and then in 
Worcester, and afterwards in Leicester. It is in bad 

taste to pronounce any one of these names of towns in 
three syllables. Well-educated persons pronounce them 
in two syllables, as if spelled Glos-ter, Wors-ter, and 
Les-ter. 

2 13. He did it unbeknown to us ; say, unknown, &c. 

244. If I say " They retreated back" I use a word 
that is superfluous, as back is implied in the syllable re 
in retreated. Never place the accent on flu in super- 
fluous, but always on per. 

245. In reading Paley's " Evidences of Christianity,' 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 135 

I unexpectedly lit on the passage I wanted ; say, met 
with the passage, &c. 

246. He has ordered a phaeton from his coachmaker ; 
beware of saying pheton or phaton. The word should 
al ways be pronounced in three syllables, with the accent 
on pha. N. B. In pha-e-ton the a and e do not form a 
diphthong, as many suppose ; the word is of Greek origin. 

247. Be careful to use the hyphen (-) correctly, to 
join compound words, and words broken by the ending 
of the line. The use of the hyphen will appear more 
clearly from the following example : u many colored 
wings" means many wings, which are colored; but 
" many-colored wings " means wings of many colors. 

248. He had to wait in an antechamber; carefully 
avoid spelling the last word antichamber. N. B. An 
antechamber is the chamber that leads to the chief apart- 
ment. Ante is a Latin preposition, and means before ; 
as, to antedate ; that is, " to date beforehand." Anti is a 
Greek preposition, and means against, or opposed to, as 
emft'-slaveiy, that is, "against or opposed to the insti- 
tution of slavery." 

249. The axe was very sharp ; never spell axe with- 
out the e. 

250. The force of voice which is placed on any par- 
ticular word or words, to distinguish the sense, is called 
emphasis, and those words are called emphatic words , 



136 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

as, " Grammar is a useful science." In this sentence 
the word useful is emphatic. The great importance of 
emphasis may be seen by the following examples : — 

1. Will you call on me to-morrow ? 
Yes, I shall \_caTT\. 

2. Will you call on me to-morrow ? 
No, but I shall call on your brother. 

3. Will you call on me to-morrow ? 
No, but I shall on the following day. 

4. Will you call on me to-morrow ? 
No, but my brother will. 

251. Never say o -fences for offences ; pi-son for 
poi-son ; co-lection for col-lection ; voi-olent for vi-o-lent ; 
kiv-er for cov-er ; a-feard for a-fraid ; deb-buty for 
dep-uty. 

252. He is a mere cipher; never spell cipher with 
a y. 

253. I was necessitated to do it ; a vile expression, 
and often made worse by necessiated being used. Say, 
I was obliged, or compelled, to do it. 

254. Doddridge's " Rise and Progress " is an excellent 
book; pronounce rise, the noun, so as to rhyme with 
price ; rise, the verb, rhymes with prize. 

255. Have you been to the National Gallery ? never 
pronounce national as if it were written nay-shun-al, a 
very common error, and by no means confined to uned- 
ucated persons. 



IN SPEAKING AND WHITING COjxH^CTED. 137 

256. I bought a new umbrella ; beware of pronouncing 
this word umherella, umhereller, or umberil, all very com- 
mon errors. 

257. He is a supporter of the government ; beware of 
omitting the n in the second syllable of gov-ern-ment, a 
very common practice. 

258. He strenuously maintained the contrary ; never 
place the accent on the second syllable in contrary. In 
the ancient and time-honored ditty, however, of 

" Mistress Mary, 
Quite contrary, 
How does your garden grow ? "— 

a ballad with which we are all more or less familiar, the 
word " contrary " is accented on the second syllable, so 
as to rhyme with the name of that venerable dame to 
whom these memorable lines were addressed. 

259. " Received this day of Mr. Brown, ten pounds ; " 
say, "Received this day from" &c. 

260. " In what case is the word dominus ? " " In the 
nominative, sir." In the hurry of school pronunciation 
nom-i~na~tive, a word of four syllables, is nearly always 
heard in three syllables, as if written nom-na-tive, or 
nom-a-tive, an error that should be very carefully 
avoided. 

261. Of whatever you get, endeavor to save some 



138 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

thing ; and, with all your getting, get wisdom. Carefully 
avoid saying git for get, and gitting for getting. 

262. So intent was he on the song he was singing, as 
he stood by the fire, that he did not perceive that his 
clothes were singeing.* 

263. The boy had a swingeing for swinging without 
permission. Read the note at the bottom of this page. 

264. The man who was dyeing said that his father 
was then dying. Read the note to No. 262, in reference 
to dyeing ; and observe that die changes the i into y 
before the addition of the termination ing. 

265. His surname is Clifford; never spell the sur, in 
surname, sir, which shows an ignorance of its true der- 
ivation. 

266. " The Duke of Sutherland has got almost no rent 
for his salmon fisheries for the last four years ; " the 
writer should have said, scarcely any rent. " Almost no 
rent," is a downright Scotticism. 

267. His mamma sent him to a preparatory school ; 
mamma is often written with one m only, which is not, 
as may at first be supposed, in imitation of the French 
maman, but in sheer ignorance. The word is pure 
Greek. 



* Verbs ending with a single e omit the e when the .termination 
mg is added ; as, give, giving. In singeing ', however, the e must be 
retained, to prevent its being confounded with singing. 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 139 

268. Active verbs often take a neuter sense ; as, The 
house is building. Here is building is used in a neuter 
signification, because it has no object after it. By this 
rule are explained such sentences as, Application is 
wanting, The grammar is printing, &c. 

269. He attached me without the slightest provo- 
cation ; say, attacked. 

270. I saw him somewheres in the city; say, some- 
where. Nowheres, every wheres, and any wheres are also 
v^ry frequently heard. 

271. He is still a bacheldor ; say, bachelor. 

272. His language was quite blasphemous ; place the 
accent on the first syllable. Beware of placing it on 
phe, the second syllable in blas-phe'mous, a very common 
mistake. 

273. I fear I shall discommode you ; say, incommode. 

274. I can do it equally as well as he ; leave out 
equally, which is altogether superfluous. 

275. We could not forbear from doing it ; leave out 
from, which is unnecessary. 

276. They accused him for neglecting his duty; say, 
of neglecting, &c. 

277. He was made much on at Bath ; say, made 
much of, &c. 

278. He is a man on whom you can confide ; say, if 
whom, &c, and on whom vou can depend or rely. 



140 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

279. Pm thinking he will soon arrive ; say, I think, &c. 

280. He was obliged to fly the country ; say, flee the 
country — a very common mistake. 

281. The Capitol of the United States is the city of 
Washington, in which the Capital and other public build- 
ings have been erected. To correct the error in this, 
transpose the two words, as Capital means the city or 
town in which the legislative business of a state or nation 
is transacted, and Capitol means the building in which 
legislative bodies assemble for making laws. 

282. His conduct admits of no apology ; leave out of 
which is quite unnecessary. 

283. A gent has been here, inquiring for you — a 
detestable, but very common expression ; say, A gentle 
man, &c. 

284. That was all along of you ; say, That was all 
your fault. 

285. You have no call to be vexed with me ; say, no 
occasion, &c. 

286. I don't know nothing about it — a very common 
cockneyism ; leave out don't. 

287. I had rather not, should be, I would rather not. 

288. I had better go, should be, It were better that I 
should go. 

289. A new pair of gloves should be, A pair of net* 
gloves* 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 1 11 

290. He is a very rising man, should be, He is rising 
rapidly. 

291. Apartments to let, should be, Apartments to 
be let 

292. No less than ten persons, should be, No fewer 
than ten persons. Less must be applied to quantity ; as, 
No less than ten pounds. Fewer must be applied to 
things. 

293. I never speak whenever I can help it, should be, 
I never speak when I can help it. 

294. Before I do that, I must first be paid ; say, Be- 
fore I do that, I must be paid. 

295. To get over an illness, should be, To survive, or 
recover from, an illness. 

296. To get over a fact, should be, To deny or re- 
fute it. 

297. I hate the study of mathematics ; say, dislike, 
&c. He hates to be late at school ; say, he is unwilling 
to be late, &c. It is in bad taste to use this word ha*e 
to express a mere dislike. To speak of hating this or 
lb at article of food, or of hating cold or hot weather, in- 
dicates a want of cultivation. 

298. The then Duke of Bedford, should be, The Duke 
of Bedford of that day, or, The sixth Duke of Bedford. 

299. The then Mrs. Howard, should be, The Mrs. 
Howard then living. 



142 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

300. A couple of pounds, should be, Two pounds. 
Couple implies union, as, A married couple. 

301. Mrs. Mary Smith was at the party; say, Mrs. 
John Smith, as his wife or widow should always be 
designated by the Christian or given name of the 
husband. 

302. He is noways in fault, should be, He is nowise 
in fault. 

303. He is like to be, should be, He is likely to be. 

304. All over the land, should be, Over all the land. 

305. I am stout in comparison to you, should be, I am 
stout in comparison with you. 

306. At best, should be, At the lest 

307. At worst, should be, At the worst 

308. The dinner was all eat up, should be, The dinner 
was all eaten. 

309. I eat heartily, should \s , I ate heartily. 

310. As I take it, should be, As I see it, or under- 
stand it. 

311. I shall Jail down, should be, I shall fall. 

312. It fell on the floor, should be, it fell to the floor. 

313. He again repeated it, should be, He repeated it 
again, if the third or fourth time is referred to. 

314. His conduct was approved of by all, should be, 
His conduct was approved by all. 

315. He was killed by a cannon bail, should be, H^ 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 14f> 

was killed with a cannon ball. The gun was fired by a 
mar. 

316. Six weeks back, should be, Six weeks ago or 
since. 

317. He came to see me every now and then, should 
be, He came often, frequently, or occasionally. 

318 Who finds him in money, should be, Who finds 
him money. 

319. The first of all, should be, The first. 

320. The last of all, should be, The last. 

321. Be that as it will, should be, Be that as it may. 

322. My every hope, should be, All my hopes. 

323. Since when, should be, Since which time. 

324. He put it in his pocket, should be, He put it into 
his pocket. 

325. Since then, should be, Since that time. 
32G. The latter end, should be, The end. 

327. I saw it in here, should be, I saw it here. 

328. That aint just, should be, That is not just. 

329. The hen is setting, should be, The hen is sitting. 

330. The wind sets, should be, The wind sits. 

331. To lift up, should be, To lift. 

332. I said so over again, should be, I said so again, 
or repeated it. 

333. From here to there, should be, From this placs 
to that. 



144 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

334. Nobody else but him, should be, Nobody but him. 

335. The balloon ascended up, should be, The balloon 
ascended. 

336. This two days, should be, These two day?. 

1 337. Do you mean to come ? should be, Do you intend 
to come? 

338. Each of them are, should be, Each of them is. 
Each means one and the other of two. 

339. Either of the three, should be, Any one of the 
three. Either means one or the other of two. 

340. Neither 'one or the other, should be, Neither one 
nor the other. Neither (not either) means not the one 
nor the other of two. 

341. Better nor that, should be, Better titan that 

342. Bad grammar, should be, Bad or ungrammatical 
English. 

343. As soon as ever, should be, As soon as. 

344. You will some day be sorry, should be, You will 
oie day be sorry. 

345. From now, should be, From this time. 

346. Therefore I thought it proper to write you, 
should be, Therefore I think it proper to write to you. 

> 347. There's thirty, should be, There are thirty. 

348. The subject matter, should be, The subject. 

349. A summer's morning, should be, A summer 
morning. 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 145 

350. My clothes "have got too small, or too short, for 
me, should be, I have become too large or too tall for 
my clothes. 

351 . A most perfect poem, should be, A perfect poem. 
Perfect, supreme, complete, brief full, empty, true, false ) 
Xo not admit of comparison. 

352. Avoid using unmeaning or vulgar phrases in 
speaking; as, You don't say so! Don't you know: 
Don't you see ? You know ; You see ; So, you see, &c. 

353. Is Mr. Smith in ? should be, Is Mr. Smith 
with in ? 

354. The other one, should be, The other. 

355. Another one, should be, Another. 

356. I left this morning. Name the place left. 

357. Over head and ears, should be, Over head. 

358. I may perhaps, or probably, should be, I may. 

359. Whether he will or no, should be, Whether he 
will or not. 

360. Says I, says she, or says he, should be, Said I, 
or I said, &c. 

361. He spoke contemptibly of him, should be, He 
spoke contemptuously of him. 

362. Was you? should be, Were you? 

363. I am oftzner well than ill, should be, I am more 
frequently well than ill. 

364. For good and all, should be, For ever. 

10 



116 MISTAKES AND IMPROPRIETIES 

365. It is above a month since, should be, It is mor 
ihan a month since. 

366. He is a superior man, should be, He is superio? 
o most men. 

367. He need not do it, should be, He needs not do it. 

368. Go over the bridge, should be, Go across the 
bridge. 

369. I was some distance from home, should be, I was 
at some distance from home. 

370. He belongs to the Mechanics' Institution, should 
be, He is a member of the Mechanics' Institution. 

371. For such another book, should be, For another 
such book. 

372. The}- mutually loved each other, should be, They 
lcved each ether. 

373. I aint, should be, I am not. 

374. I am up to you, should be, I understand you. 

375. Bread lias rose, should be, Bread has risen. 

376. He was in eminent danger, should be, He was in 
imminent danger. 

377. Take hold on, should be, Take hold of 

378. Vegetables were plenty, should be, Vegetables 
were plentiful. 

379. Avoid all slang and vulgar words and phrases 
as, Any how, Bating, Bran new, To blow up, Bother, 
Cut, Currying favor, Fork out, Half an eye, 1 am up 



IN SPEAKING AND WRITING CORRECTED. 147 

to you, Kick up, Leastwise, Nowheres, Pell-mell, Scrape, 
The scratch, Rum, Topsy-turvy, Walk into, Whatsom- 
ever. 

" Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar." — 
Shakespeare, 



JNDEX. 



A and An, rules for using, 93, 114, 121. 
Accent, explained, 110. 
Adjectives, incorrect use of, 14, 85 — 87. 
Adverbs, incorrect use of, 85 — 87. 
Advertisement, pronunciation of, 110. 
Ain't, for is not, and are not, 14. 
Ante and Anti, explanation of, 135. 
Antipodes, accent of, 116. 
Arcanum, plural of, 64. 
As, incorrectly used for so, 128. 
Ashes, used in the plural only, 64. 
At, correct use of, 129. 
Automaton, plural of, 64. 

B. 

Began, improperly used for begun, 81. 
Beloved, how pronounced wben used 

as an adjective, 113. 
Better and Best, often incorrectly used, 

110. 
But, sometimes improperly used for 
than, if, and that, 92, 93. 

c. 

Oan'i, for cannot, 14. 

Capital and Capitol, difference ex- 
plained, 140. 

Case, explained, 65 — 68. 

Chapped and Chopped, difference ex- 
plained, 95. 

Character and Characteristics, how ac- 
sented, 133. 



Charity in speech, 21, 22. 

Christian name of the husband ap 
plied to the wife, 142. 

Compromised and Compromise, how 
pronounced, 118. 

Conversation, its importance and char- 
acteristics, 10. 30—34. 

Conversation, idle words, gossip, &c, 23. 

Conversation, its influence on others, 
24, 57. 

Conversation, religious in its charac- 
ter, 16, 32, 54. 

Conversation, should be respectful to 
the opinions of others, 24, 57. 

Conversation, with superiors, 48, 49. 

Conversation, with inferiors, 50 — 52. 

Couldn't, for could not, 14. 

Corporeal and Corporal, difference ex- 
plained, 109 

Criterion, 64. 

D. 

Depot and Station, the latter is ths 

better word, 64. 
Detraction, in conversation, 18, 19 
Did you ever, &c, 16. 
Didn't, for did not, 14. 
Direct a letter, improperly used foi 

address, &c, 117. 
Done, for did, 13, 81. 
Don't, for do not, 14. 
Don't ought, 82. 
Drank, incorrectly used for drunk 

40—42. 
Drawing out a person in conversation^ 

13, 81. 

049) 



150 



INDEX. 



R 

Each and Either, 118. 

Each and Every, 73. 

Effluvium, 64. 

Elder and Older, proper use of, 112. 

Emphasis, explained, 135. 

Encomium, 64. 

Enjoys bad health, corrected, 109. 

Equally as well, 87. 

Erratum, 64. 

Erroneous pronunciations, corrected, 

94—102. 
Evil, pronounced correctly, 98. 
EvU speaking, Ac, 18, 19. 
Expect, improper use of, 82. 
Extravagant expressions, Ac, 14, 105. 

F. 

Faults in conversation, 35, 36. 

Faults of pronunciation, 11, 12, 94— 
102, 110—146. 

Feelings of others to be regarded in 
conversation, 35. 

Fewer and Less, proper use of, 141. 

First two and Two first, 110. 

For, sometimes used improperly, 90. 

Foreign words and phrases to be avoid- 
ed, 63, 64. 

G. 

Gether, often used for gather, 116. 
Good conversers never dictatorial, 37, 

38. 
Gossip, scandal, Ac, to be guarded 

against, 18, 19. 
Grow corn, Ac, often used for raise, 

Ac, 123. 
Gymnasium, 64. 

H. 

H, how sounded in pronouncing cer- 
tain words, 97, 121. 

Hadn't ought, 82. 

Handkerchief, how the plural is pro- 
nounced, 94. 

HainH, for has not, 13, 14. 

Happiness of others promoted by good 
conversation, 12, 13, 52 — 57. 



Hasn't, for has not, 14. 

Hatz, improperly used for dislike, Ac. 

141. 
Have, used incorrectly, 84. 
Haven't, for have not, 14. 
Hence, correct use of, 87. 



Tm sure, use of, in bad taste, 16. 

I declare, use of, in bad taste, 16. 

Idle words, 18. 

I never, use of, in bad taste, 16. 

If, often omitted, 93. 

Incorrect pronunciations, 94—102. 

Influence of good conversation, 24, 55. 

Interested and Interesting, how ac- 
cented, 112. 

Ism, mispronunciation of this sylla- 
ble, 119. 

Isn't, for is not, 16. 

K. 

Kind words in conversation, 21, 22. 
Kind treatment of the opinions of 
others, 37. 

L. 

Lay and Lie, correct use of, 74 — 76. 

Learned, how pronounced, 109. 

Learn and Teach, correct use of, 110. 

Leisure, how pronounced, 111. 

Less and Fewer, erroneous use of, cor- 
rected, 141. 

Lie and Lay, common errors in use ofi 
74—76. 

Loads and Lots, use of such words, 
103. 104. 

M. 

Medium, its plural, 64. 
Memorandum, its plural. 64. 
Mischievous, how pronounced, 112. 
Mispronunciations of many words, 95 

—97. 
Mistake and Mistaken, use of, 117, 130. 
Momentum, 64. 
Monotonous conversation, 45. 
Mussulmen or Mussulmans, 132. 



INDEX. 



151 



N. 

Naught and Aught, use of, 121. 
Neither — or, use of, corrected, 113. 
No — or, use of, corrected, 113. 
Nominative case, explained, 65 — 68. 
Nor and or, correct use of, 91, 92. 
Notable, difference in meaning and 

pronunciation of the two words 

spelled alike, 109. 

o. 

Objective case, explained, 65—68. 

Off — Of, correct use of these words, 
90. 

Often, mispronunciation common, 98. 

Older and Elder, proper use of, 112. 

Omission of certain letters in pronoun- 
cing various words, 95 — 97. 

On and Of, the proper use of, 90. 

On — to, use of, corrected, 89. 

Or and Nor, rule for using, 91. 

Ought and Nought, correct orthogra- 
phy ^ 121. 



Patience, sometimes erroneously used 
as a plural, 64. 

Past tense, used for the present, 83, 
119, 125. 

Pet words and phrases, use of, con- 
demned, 14, 105. 

Phenomenon, plural of, 64. 

Plural of Handkerchief, Scarf, Dwarf, 
&c, 94. 

Precedent and Precedence, how accent- 
ed, 117. 

Preventative, often used for preventive, 
134. 

Pronunciation, importance of, 11, 12, 
94—102. 

Progress, correct pronunciation of, 126. 

Pronouns, often used in the wrong 
case, 69 — 71. 

Propose and Purpose, meaning of each 
given, 117. 

Putting questions, in conversation, 42. 



Q. 

Quantity, meaning and use of, 104. 
Questions, putting of, in conversation, 
42. 

R. 

Raise and Grow corn, &c, use of, ex 
plained, 123. 

Raise and Rise, proper use of, 78. 

Recess, how accented, 112. 

Regard for the feelings of others h 
conversation, 35. 

Relative pronouns, improper use of, 
71, 72. 

Religion, a controlling element in con- 
versation, 25, 26, 54—56. 

Root, correct pronunciation of, 98, 

s. 

Sewed, correct pronunciation of, 110. 

Scandal, Ac, referred to, 18, 19. 

Scarf plural of, 94. 

Shall and Will, proper use ut, 119. 

Sheiv, improperly used for show, 13. 

Shouldn't, for should not, 14. 

Slander, condemned, 18, 19. 

So as that, an incorrect phrase, 93. 

Spoonfuls, the correct orthography, 

63. 
Station, for depot, 64. 
Subjunctive mood, often incorrectly 

used for the indicative, 79. 
Suit for suite, 64. 

T. 

Teach and Learn, difference explained, 
110. 

Tenses, often used incorrectly, 83, 11 9, 
125. 

That's a fact, use of, in bad taste, 16 

The house is building, the phrase dis- 
cussed, 139. 

The Misses Brown, or The Miss Browns, 
111. 

Thence, proper use of, 87. 

These kind of things, 73, 115. 



Vo2 



INDEX. 



Those sort of&angs. 74. 
Too, correct pronunciation of, 94. 
Topics, of conversation. &c. 4o. 47. 
Two first and First two. 110. 
Two pair, corrected. 124. 

u. 

U;t of lay for lie, corrected, 74 — 76. 
Use of set for sit, corrected, 78. 
Use of who for whom, corrected, 71. 
Use of (so called) harmless oaths, 16. 
r7^e of foreign words and phrases, 63. 



Variety of topics in conversation, 45. 
Ftd^ansms, to be avoided, 13, 145, 146. 



w. 

WeU, incorrect use of, 16. 

Wad, often incorrectly used for gone, 

SO. 
Wh, frequently mispronounced, 97. 

DC, proper use of. 57. 
Whether, correct use of, 88. 
Who and Whom, often improperly 

used, 71, 91. 
W:n't. for wiU not, 14. 
Wouldn't, for toaw&Z not, 14. 



Jaw frnoto, a superfluous phrase, often 
used in conversation, 16. 



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